


Of Love we are Worthy

by Accidentalshipper



Series: The Paranormal Adventures of Lena Luthor [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant until 3x05, F/F, Ghosts, Heavy Angst, Humor, Idiots in Love, Lena Luthor & Maggie Sawyer Friendship, Lena Luthor & Winn Schott Jr. Friendship, Lena Luthor-centric, Lena sees dead people, Mystery, Pining, Sanvers Wedding, Slow Burn, a bit of everything, then it's canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-06-12 21:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 85,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15349440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accidentalshipper/pseuds/Accidentalshipper
Summary: Lena scoffed, as she watched the very rich, very powerful woman complain about her life. “Oh, really?” Lena drawled sarcastically. “You’re having a hard time finding ways to expand your fortune over the backs of other people?”Veronica Sinclair’s previous amusement seemed to completely disappear from her face. “As a matter of fact, Luthor, yes… I’ve seen better days. Mostly…” she stepped closer to the youngest Luthor, and Lena’s eyes widened at the scene because the woman had just stepped through one of the visitor’s chairs. Not past it, not over it. But straight through. “…mostly because I’m dead.”ORThe Ghost Whisperer-like AU that gradually detaches itself from canon





	1. Roulette

**Author's Note:**

> Three weeks before 3x01

_August 7 th 2017_

 

It was a sunny day in National City.

Summer had arrived in full force and various businesses were temporarily closed due to the heat. There had actually been a brief spell of rain during the afternoon (the first form of precipitation in over two months), but now the scorching temperatures had returned, causing the many abandoned offices in town to turn into giant ovens. One of the few businesses that couldn’t quite afford to take a break was L-Corp; since they were at the forefront of funding the reconstruction of the city after the Daxamite invasion and Lillian Luthor’s assault just two weeks after that. Lena Luthor had spent the last two months making sure that they did just that, not only out of a feeling of moral obligation, but also because she was pretty sure that if they didn’t do their part, Kara would soon drop to the ground out of pure exhaustion trying to reconstruct the whole damn city by herself.

Lena was currently in her office, sweat sticking to her despite the air conditioning, while her mood was a stark contrast to the sunny disposition of the weather. She was ticking her nails on her desk while pressing her phone to her ear, as she stared intently at the link a certain idiot had just sent her.

“Hey! Lena!” the voice on the other end sounded. “What’s up?”

“Winn, what am I looking at?” Lena grumbled.

Winn fell quiet for a moment. “Is that a riddle?” he asked confused. “Because it’s a pretty unfair one, I must say. It’s like what Bilbo pulled when he-”

“It’s a legitimate question,” Lena interrupted through gritted teeth. “A guy with your hacking skills should have better things to do than find a way around my spam filters, so I’ll ask again: what the hell am I looking at?”

“Oh!” Winn laughed as he apparently seemed to catch on. “You mean the link I sent you? Well, it’s pretty self-explanatory, right?”

Lena sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, because she really had better things to do. “There is nothing self-explanatory about some people doing a song and dance with puppets! For your information; I hate musicals! So what’s the point of sending me this?!”

“First of all; I’m pretty sure that ‘hating musicals’ is some sort of horrendous disease and you should definitely have that looked at.” He chuckled, while Lena rolled her eyes. “And about the link, it’s just like the song says: If you were gay… that would be okay!”

There was a sudden cracking sound, as the pen in Lena’s hand bent beyond repair. “I’m not gay!!” she exclaimed. “Why would you say that?!”

“I’m not dumb, I see things,” Winn chirped in a way too cheerful tone, causing Lena’s frustration to increase exponentially. “It wasn’t that hard to put together, really. After the whole strawberry thing, I started thinking back about you and Kara and it just kind of made sense that-”

“There is no strawberry thing!!” Lena snapped, feeling more embarrassed by the second.

“You want me to call it something else? I mean, it’s really not a problem since inventing great names is kind of my thing, BOSS.”

“I’m not your boss.”

“No, no, you’re _the_ BOSS; the Benevolent Overlord Saving Spectres.”

Lena groaned loudly as she hung her head down. “I’m not in the mood for this, Winn. I’m not a hero and even if I was, BOSS would still be a silly name.”

“Okay… rude,” Winn grumbled. There was a moment of silence on his end. “Are you sure this is about the name?” Winn suddenly questioned. “Or are you still mad about that mistake we made after your birthday party?”

Lena straightened up, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. “The mistake _we_ made?! It was _your_ fault!!”

“Oh, come on! How was I supposed to know that he was just a guy that had escaped the psych ward and not a ghost?”

“BECAUSE YOU COULD SEE HIM!!”

“Well, yeah, exactly: I was in shock! I thought your ability had somehow rubbed off on me! I was already imagining great names that we could call ourselves as a superhero duo!” Lena shook her head, puzzled how a guy that smart could sometimes be so dumb. “Oh crap,” Winn muttered. “I have to go. Alex is giving me the death stare, I’m pretty sure she’s figured out this isn’t a work-related conversation. We’ll talk about the Kara thing later, okay?”

“There’s nothing to talk ab-”

A beeping sound signalled that the man had already hung up and Lena sighed as she put her phone down, before burying her face in her hands. It was uncanny how Winn had the ability to deduce her deepest secrets with virtually no information. First the whole seeing ghosts thing, and now the Kara thing.

Oh… great. Now she was calling it ‘the Kara thing’ too.

Lena sighed and rested her chin on one hand as she let her eyes go over her newly refurnished office from where she was sitting behind her desk. The top floor of her building had finally been completely repaired, which meant that she at last had her office back. The one thing she’d insisted that they didn’t bring in yet was a new couch, because she’d felt that there was someone else who should get a say in that. That is how yesterday, Lena Luthor had found herself in the middle of an IKEA, looking at furniture with her best friend for whom she’d recently realised she had some inconvenient, not to mention disproportionately intense feelings.

_“Ooooh Lena, what about this one?!”_

_Lena raised her eyebrows, watching Kara scurry towards a bright pink couch and plop onto it with an excited grin. She fondly shook her head as she walked across the store and crossed her arms while she stepped in front of the reporter._

_“I’m not putting a pink couch in my office, Kara,” she said sternly, although she was unable to fight off the smile that formed upon seeing Kara’s adorable frown._

_“But you said I would get to pick one I like.”_

_“I said you could_ help _me pick one,” Lena corrected, “since you’re probably going to use that couch almost as much as I do.” She smirked as she looked down at the seated woman. “But you should remember that when I’m at work I’m supposed to look intimidating, and that’s pretty hard to do when my couch looks like it was stolen from a dollhouse.”_

_“Pfft,” Kara waved her hand dismissively, “this couch is fantastic, and you’re being judgemental.” Lena just laughed at Kara’s determination to defend such an over the top piece of furniture. “Besides,” Kara continued, completely serious, “if people spend more than ten minutes with you, you won’t be able to intimidate them anyway because they’ll have figured out what a sweetheart you are.”_

_Aaaand that was apparently a cue for her heart to try and beat right out of her chest. Lena swallowed nervously, hoping that the heat spreading on her cheeks wasn’t too visible, and decided to pull out some humour to mask her emotions. Because Kara finding out about her feelings for her, was definitely number one on her list of things to avoid. You know, tied with leaving the reputation of the Luthor name in its current pitiful state. And with Kara finding out about her ability to see ghosts. It was all pretty close, really._

_Lena dropped her voice as low as she could, and summoned her best corporate glare. “What are you implying, Ms. Danvers?” She leaned down while raising one eyebrow and used her finger to lift up Kara’s chin, as her best friend swallowed nervously. “You think that anyone could just mess with me?”_

_“I… no… I- I…”_

_Yeah, okay, that was a bad move. Because Kara was now blushing and stammering, and that made her even more adorable than usual, incredible as that may sound. Not to mention that her face was very close. It was oh so close, and it reminded Lena way too much of that fateful day when she’d confessed her feelings to an unconscious Kara and if Lena didn’t know any better, she’d say that the woman’s eyes had just flitted down to her cleavage. Great, now she was imagining things._ Get a grip, Lena!

_She forced out a laugh and hoped that it sounded humorous as she straightened back up. “You should’ve seen your face,” Lena teased. She was grateful that the blushing blonde was looking down as she laughed, because Lena was pretty sure that her own face was a little too red as well._

_“Ha, ha, yeah you got me-”_

_Kara went to stand up but she tripped and fell down, causing Lena to actually let out a genuine burst of laughter. “Oh… oh god,” she snickered, as she lent her a hand to get back up, “I’m sorry, are you okay?”_

_“Pfft, yes… yes, fine. Good, totally good. Indestructible, remember?” Lena smiled widely at the stammering woman, who adjusted her glasses and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m- I’m just a little tired, you know?”_

_Lena’s smile faded slightly as she looked Kara over with concern. “Is it all the reconstruction work?” she asked carefully. “You know that people will understand if you take a day off, right?” Lena knew that without Supergirl helping with the heavy lifting, the repairs from the Daxamite invasion and her mother’s assault would probably take years instead of the projected months, but that didn’t mean that Kara needed to work herself into exhaustion._

_“No, no,” Kara said dismissively, “they need my help. I’ll be fine, I just need to work a little harder like everybody else is doing. It’ll pass, I’m sure. Just like those weird dreams…”_

_Lena frowned as Kara seemed to turn more serious while looking into the distance. “Dreams…?”_

_“It’s- it’s nothing, really,” Kara stammered. Lena wanted to ask more, but Kara suddenly looked at the other side of the store and promptly darted away. “Here! This one looks comfy!”_

 

Lena was still mentally replaying the purchasing of the couch that now stood in her office, when she suddenly got pulled out of the memory by the double doors of her office swinging open. Revealing Maggie Sawyer who casually strutted closer. “Luthor,” she greeted with a small smile, “it’s been a while.”

Before Lena could respond, Jess stumbled into the office after the woman, looking highly aggravated. “I’m sorry, Ms. Luthor! I left Hector in charge for half a second and he just let her barge in!”

“It’s okay, Jess,” Lena said with a smile, “I guess I can spare a minute.”

Jess huffed in annoyance as she straightened her blouse, before leaving the office while muttering something about incompetent assistants and arrogant police officers.

“I think she likes me,” Maggie quipped, causing Lena to laugh as the detective took a seat on the other side of the desk. “So are you trying to work yourself into the ground now?” Lena frowned in confusion, while Maggie just gave her a questioning look. “Seriously, Luthor, you own this whole place and you insist on working even with these ungodly temperatures?”

Lena chuckled as Maggie adjusted in her seat. “I think I can handle it.”

“Your armpit stains say otherwise.”

Lena’s eyes widened, immediately checking under her arms. Maggie barked out a laugh.

“Ha! Made you look!”

Lena turned her head back to the detective with an annoyed expression, while Maggie kept her grin in place. “So did you come here to vent your juvenile humour?” Lena asked with bemused irritation.

“No, actually,” Maggie cleared her throat and sat up straighter, turning serious. “I need to give you a heads-up about something, but… if anyone asks, you didn’t hear it from me.” Lena frowned as she looked at Maggie’s concerned expression. “They’re assembling a special task force within the NCPD science division,” she explained. “It’s going to investigate some of those metal machines your mother used and see if we can track down who manufactured them, whether they knew what it was for, and so on.”

Lena frowned at the woman. “Isn’t the DEO better equipped for that job?”

“Objectively, yes. But the NCPD managed to get their hands on some of the remains of those machines, and I don’t know if you’re aware of the relationship between the police department and the FBI, but handing over our evidence to the feds is something we can get pretty touchy about. We have our pride, you know?” Maggie chuckled briefly.

“Okay,” Lena said slowly, “so what does this have to do with me?”

“Well, we’ve already started recruiting for this task force and the general sentiment… well…” Maggie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, “the general sentiment is that we should start with investigating L-Corp.” Lena sighed deeply, as her mood once again darkened. “Look, Luthor, I tried to come at it from another angle,” Maggie said, looking apologetic, “but you have to understand that everybody saw those things scanning for aliens, and the only known form of technology capable of doing that, is the alien detection device developed by L-Corp.”

Lena rubbed her eyes, trying to contain her aggravation. “A device of which I cancelled the launch just last May, and of which I destroyed every last prototype,” she breathed out.  Granted, that had been a slightly impulsive decision, so shortly after finding out that her best friend was an alien. But looking back on it now, it was probably the right decision.

“That’s exactly the problem,” Maggie explained, “at the time of your mother’s attack there was no one else that we’re aware of with access to that technology. So… obviously they would set their sights on you. Look, kid, I know you didn’t do it,” Maggie gave her an understanding look. “But the only objective evidence I have for that, is the fact that I know about dr. Runnels. And I can’t exactly stand up in the middle of a task force meeting and say: ‘Lena Luthor is innocent, which I know because that kidnapped scientist probably spilled L-Corp’s secrets to Lillian, which I know because her ghost showed up and saved everyone’s ass by telling Lena about Cadmus’s plans.’”

Lena swallowed, looking down at her lap. To be honest, there had been so much going on at the time, that she hadn’t even stopped to think about her mother’s floating killing machines  displaying the same functions as her alien detection device. But it made sense now. Dr. Runnels had been a key part in the development of her device, so it was logical that Lillian would have been able to torture that information out of her.

“Did she say anything to you?” Maggie asked. “Anything that could tell us where your mother was hiding? Because if we find dr. Runnels’ body, then we can prove that it was Lillian who kidnapped her, and it should be convincing enough evidence to exonerate you completely.”

Lena sighed as she shook her head. “No, she… she was just worried about curing all the aliens. We didn’t talk about anything else before she passed on. She… wasn’t really herself anymore.” Lena shook her head again as she turned her attention back to Maggie.

“Well, don’t worry too much, alright?” the detective said encouragingly. “Not to brag or anything, but my current track record basically guarantees me to be assigned as head of the task force. I can’t wait for McConnell to eat his heart out,” she added with a smug smirk. “I should be able to direct the investigation away from you, but… you’re not going to avoid being officially questioned.”

Lena huffed out a humourless laugh. “I guess I can live with that.”

“Good… good…”

Lena looked up from the paperwork in front of her, noticing that Maggie was still sitting there and giving her a curious look. “Is there something else?” Lena asked warily. Maggie just sighed as she kept looking at her.

“How’s therapy?”

Lena huffed in annoyance, refocusing her attention on the paperwork on her desk. “It sucks,” she stated, aggressively crossing out an egregious error on the financial analysis in front of her. “Just because the guy has a fancy degree in ‘understanding people’, doesn’t mean he has to act like he knows everything. If I have to look at those beady little eyes of his one more time, I swear I’m going to-”

“Whoa, easy there Luthor,” the detective chuckled. “From what I’ve heard, other people only have good things to say about dr. Talbot.”

“Maybe he bribed them.”

Maggie snickered at that. “Well, I’m glad you’re at least going now.”

“So glad that you’ll finally give me my gun back?”

Maggie’s smile disappeared, as she looked at Lena and her raised eyebrow. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid. You’ve gone to what, two sessions? You’ll get it back when I’m convinced you’re okay.”

Lena sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. “And who made you my supervisor all of a sudden?” she asked, genuine annoyance slipping into her voice. “I don’t appreciate being treated like a kid, or being called that either.”

“Needing help doesn’t make you a kid,” Maggie tried to reason, leaning closer with her elbows on her knees as Lena pursed her lips and looked to the side. “I’m not trying to control you or anything Lena, I’m just worried ab-”

At that point, Maggie’s phone saw fit to interrupt the conversation. Both women startled at the loud ringtone, as Maggie answered the phone. “This better be good, McConnell,” she grumbled. Lena turned her head back to the detective, noticing that whatever was being said on the other end made her scrunch her eyes closed and rub her forehead. “Shit… I’ll be there in ten.” She put her phone away and turned back to Lena. “I have to go,” she said stiffly, “someone thought it was a good idea to blow up a building full of people.” She grimly nodded Lena goodbye before heading for the doors. Lena was momentarily stunned by the casual way the detective made that announcement, but she remembered that in her line of work, this sort of thing probably happened all the time.

As she watched Maggie step out of her office, her eyes drifted over the clock hanging on the wall, which was telling her that it was 5:30 PM. Now, Lena had recently promised Kara that she would try to leave work at a reasonable hour from now on. And because Lena was starting to find it more and more difficult to say no to Kara, she had eventually agreed that she would make an effort to keep an eye on the time. On the other hand though… she still had that Daxam Drive lying around in her lab. And she still hadn’t managed to get into it.

Lena sighed, her eyes flitting over the clock again, but let’s face it; it was either go down to the lab and try to get some work done, or sit at home and longingly stare out of her window with a certain blonde superhero on her mind, who was way too busy reconstructing the city to stop by anytime soon. She huffed as she got out of her chair, and started heading down to her private lab. Just half an hour, she told herself. Forty-five minutes tops. Then she’d go home. Probably…

 

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Lena left her lab, it was 8:30 PM.

She wouldn’t have even noticed it either, if it wasn’t for Jess poking her head into the lab while the assistant was on her way out. Lena should probably be concerned about her own lack of awareness when it came to the passage of time, but to be honest, there were more pressing matters on her mind. Like that stupid Daxam Drive, which seemed almost designed to keep humans out of it. Or the fact that her assistant saw fit to stay at work until 8:30. She was aware of the irony in that thought, considering her own working hours, but just because _she_ was a workaholic didn’t mean that Jess had to be one too.

As she rode the elevator back up to her office (she just left some paperwork there, okay?! she would get it and then she’d leave, honest), both of her intricate problems kept running through her head: How to extract the schematics of Daxamite aircrafts out of the Drive, which could lead to mankind owning spaceships, and how to get her assistant to leave at a reasonable hour and maybe start developing a social life. You know, one that didn’t involve complaining about Hector’s incompetence or begging Lena to fire the entire PR department because, quote: ‘They’re backstabbing lowlifes who never tried to defend you when people assumed you were evil, and they’re just waiting for an excuse to hand this company over to the board!’

It was because she was lost in these thoughts, that she didn’t immediately notice the woman that wasn’t supposed to be there. Because of her brain focusing on these conundrums, it took Lena three and a half steps into her office to realise that there was someone waiting for her there. But when she did, she came to an abrupt stop, taking in the figure of the freakishly slim woman with the many tattoos and the tight red dress, as she felt the blood drain from her face. She observed for a moment, as the woman seemed to be staring intently at the few papers that the CEO had left on her desk, while Lena was now second-guessing the competence of her security team. Her feet remembered how to move, as she breathed out the woman’s name with wary caution: “Sinclair…”

The woman’s head turned to her, leisurely, as if this situation was completely normal and just looked at her for a few seconds. Then she gave a lazy smile. “Lena Luthor,” she drawled, a sadistic amusement in her eyes, as she straightened from her position over the desk and turned to face her, “it has been quite a few years, hasn’t it?” She let her eyes go over Lena, who felt rather scrutinised under the woman’s intense look, before meeting her eyes again as her smile slowly faded. “Of course it wouldn’t have been that long, if you’d actually come to one of my… special evenings.”

Lena breathed in deeply, crossing her arms as she called on her poise and her dignity, thinking that maybe she should see this as an opportunity. If Veronica Sinclair was back in town, then Kara and the gang could probably use as much information as they could gather on the woman. “Those ‘evenings’, as you call them, aren’t the style of entertainment that speaks to me,” Lena responded coldly. She squinted her eyes at the woman, who was now moving around the desk while curiously gazing around the office. “I thought you ended up on some alien planet?” Lena asked suspiciously.

Veronica chuckled as she stopped on the visitor’s side of the desk. “Yes… National City’s favourite hero apparently thought it was perfectly fine to strand a human citizen on a faraway planet. As opposed to the aliens on earth, who apparently deserve to be protected at all cost,” she said slowly, almost thoughtfully, as she looked to the side for a moment. “But I suppose I should thank you for my return,” she continued, turning her head back to throw a small, sinister smile Lena’s way, “if it hadn’t been for you activating those portals, I would probably still be stuck on that lousy planet. Then again… maybe that would have been better than my current predicament.”

Lena scoffed, as she watched the very rich, very powerful woman complain about her life. “Oh, really?” Lena drawled sarcastically. “You’re having a hard time finding ways to expand your fortune over the backs of other people?”

Veronica’s previous amusement seemed to completely disappear from her face. “As a matter of fact, Luthor, yes… I’ve seen better days. Mostly…” she stepped closer to the youngest Luthor, and Lena’s eyes widened at the scene because the woman had just stepped through one of the visitor’s chairs. Not past it, not over it. But straight through. “…mostly because I’m dead.”

Well, that was unexpected.

Lena cleared her throat, feeling slightly guilty that she was relieved at the thought of someone being dead, but at least that meant that the woman wasn’t going around hurting innocent aliens anymore. So that was something. “I’m, uh… I’m sorry,” Lena said carefully. “How… how did you die?”

Veronica scoffed, turning to the side and seemingly observing the flowers on the table. “An explosion, unfortunately. Can you picture it, Luthor? Someone like me, not even being poisoned, or stabbed, or double-crossed in some ingenious fashion. No,” she sighed, “just an explosion. How incredibly mundane.”

Lena frowned at this information, remembering the reason Maggie had left earlier in the day, and thinking this couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. “You just died today?” she asked curiously. Veronica halted her strolling, turning slowly to face the youngest Luthor with a slight frown.

“How do you know about that?”

“I have my sources,” Lena responded evenly, looking back with an equally suspicious frown. “So why are you still here? And how did you find out I can see ghosts this fast?” she asked warily.

Veronica looked at her for a moment, not responding immediately. She slowly tilted her head as a smile started pulling at her lips and Lena didn’t like the look of it. “As I’m sure you’re aware, Luthor,” the ghostly woman started as she stepped closer once again, “knowledge is power. And to be honest, I see no reason to give you more power than you already have.”

Lena’s frown grew deeper, not sure what she was getting at. “What are you talking about? I’m… I’m not sure you understand how this works, but… if I’m going to help you, then I need to know what you want.”

Veronica’s eyebrows rose up at the statement, before she slowly broke out into a measured laugh. It was cold and not very friendly and Lena didn’t like where this was going at all. “Who says I want your help, Luthor?”

Lena didn’t respond, as she was momentarily stunned. Every ghost she had met so far in her life, always had a specific reason for still being here. Whether for the well-being of a family member or for less than noble reasons, like her mother, ghosts always had a reason to stick around. So what could possibly be the purpose of hiding that reason from her? From the only person that could actually see her?

“Forgive me,” Lena started, “but without my help you can’t really do much around here anymore. You can observe and you can listen, sure. But there’s no way you can still-”

“You’re not paying attention to what I’m saying, Luthor,” the apparition of Veronica Sinclair interjected, still with that unsettling smile in place, “I just told you that knowledge is power. And as it turns out, I apparently don’t need to be alive to garner knowledge. Pretty fitting, isn’t it? A woman left to die, only to grow more powerful in death.” Veronica let out another laugh as she looked to the side and Lena was starting to worry at the egomaniacal tendencies of the woman. She wanted to garner knowledge? What was that supposed to mean?

“Sinclair… you’re not making any sense.” Lena searched the woman’s eyes as they looked back at her. “You can have all the information on the living that you want, but that doesn’t help you if you can’t interact with them, right?” Lena was aware that her phrasing that as a question was not a good sign, and that if this was truly a battle of wits, then she was currently losing. To Veronica Sinclair of all people. Good grief.

“First of all,” the woman stepped uncomfortably close, “you can call me Roulette, like everyone else does. And secondly; if I need someone to interact with the living, I’ll be sure to let you know. But in the meantime, I have a better purpose for you.”

Lena’s expression turned incredulous, anger brewing under the surface, but she kept her tongue, waiting to see if the woman would maybe start making sense.

“As you might imagine, I wasn’t the only person caught up in that explosion. Some people I… worked with… were there as well. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be quite as inclined to follow my orders anymore now that they’re dead. But now I have the knowledge of someone who can see people that are deceased. And who is apparently accustomed to dancing to their every whim.” The woman’s wicked grin grew wider, as she stepped back and looked at Lena’s angry expression. “Have I mentioned yet… that knowledge is power?” She chuckled to herself, and Lena’s anger was starting to mix with a familiar unsettling feeling. “So I think that this is what I’ll do: I will politely ask them to follow my orders. If they don’t, they will spend an eternity aimlessly lounging around this planet. But if they do, I will reward them with the name of the one person that can see them. But only when I have no use for them anymore, of course.”

Lena’s anger was now only contained by the unsettling feeling of knowing where this was headed, but despite only seeing one outcome to this conversation, she still asked the next logical question. “What if I refuse?” she asked through gritted teeth. “What if I don’t want to be a part of your afterlife extortion system?”

“Well,” Veronica threw her arms up, feigning an innocent expression that was honestly scarier than her smile, “then I guess my plans fall through, don’t they? I guess I’ll have no choice but to just let it go and tell them about you just like that. All of them. At the same time. Did I mention that there’s quite a few of them? And I can only imagine how many more ghosts are wandering around this city, who would be very happy to know about your existence.” Her smile returned, and the familiar fear that Lena hadn’t felt since John Corben was now rising to the surface. “I guess some of them must be very desperate. They might make your life pretty difficult. But if you can handle it… if you think your company can handle its CEO being swarmed by needy ghosts…” Veronica just kept looking at her with raised eyebrows, and Lena was both stunned and infuriated at how easily this woman had been able to back her into a corner. Not to mention the fact, and this was what made her angry more than anything, that none of this made any sense.

“Are you honestly this eager to have an army of ghosts at your disposal?! What is the use in that?! I just don’t understand-”

“You don’t _need_ to understand, Luthor,” the dead woman interjected as she stepped closer, “all you need to do, is tell me whether we have a deal… or we don’t.” Veronica kept looking at her with a smug look, and Lena gritted her teeth, because they both knew what the answer was going to be. They both knew that Lena had been outmanoeuvred on this one. Lena was desperately racking her brain for another way out, but she had nothing on the woman. They might have gone to boarding school together, but she knew nothing of her life, her family, or anything else that might give her some sort of leverage in this situation. Lena let out an extended sigh, looking at the woman in front of her with one of her most hateful glares, but eventually, she reluctantly hissed out her answer.

“Fine. We have a deal.”

Veronica gave her a devilish smile in response. “Very good. I knew you’d be reasonable.” She stepped past the youngest Luthor and headed for the double doors, only to turn around one last time to face Lena, who was internally fuming at this point. “I will send over the first ghost when I’m done with him. And I suppose we’ll see each other again at some point,” she chuckled to herself while Lena gritted her teeth in anger, “when I feel like… you could be useful to me.” With that last unsettling promise hanging in the air, Veronica finally turned away and left the office.

Lena stood there for a moment, counting to ten in her head. Like that ugly and arrogant dr. Talbot had told her to do when ‘your emotions threaten to get out of hand.’ However, it was quite clear that that quack wasn’t up to the task of being a replacement for Lillian Luthor’s life-long imbedded lessons on poise and dignity, as after her second attempt to calmly count to ten, she picked up her vase of plumerias on the table…

 

…and threw it at the wall.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

_A bright light illuminated the rich cornfield, the tips of the plants grazing beneath her fingers. The sunlight pleasantly caressed her face, as a hand caressed her arm. Kara turned around into a familiar embrace, kissing familiar lips, their white garments pressing together. She pulled back and turned around, finding yet another person she thought she’d lost forever. She walked over and looked at the face of her mother, which looked so much more real than any hologram could emulate her. She hugged her close, the touch reviving long-forgotten memories of her far too brief childhood on Krypton. As she stepped back and held her mother’s hand, she reached out and held Mon-el’s hand as well; the two people she thought she’d lost forever now safely by her side. She turned her head and smiled in delight, as she saw another one of her favourite people stride closer in an immaculate white dress. Kara could almost feel the happiness radiating off herself as she watched Lena step up to her, and up to the two people holding her hands._

_Lena stopped in front of her, smiling sadly as she so often did, while she let her eyes go over the three of them. “Why not?”_

_Kara tilted her head, smiling curiously at the question she didn’t understand._

_“If I know I can go after you, why shouldn’t I?”_

_Kara’s smile disappeared, all the happy feelings draining from her soul, as she watched the sight that she felt like she’d seen before. Like a nightmare that had remained dormant and now suddenly resurfaced. Kara started shaking her head, despair filling her, the sunlight suddenly obscured by dark clouds, as Lena slowly brought up a gun and put it to the side of her head. “No…”_

_Kara tried to reach out, tried to prevent another person being lost to her forever, but her hands were trapped. She desperately looked to her sides, where her mother and Mon-el were both gripping her hands while giving her a sad smile, as if this was inevitable. As if this was going to happen anyway, as soon as she truly cared for someone. As a cold wind started to blow and all the corn around her started crumbling to dust, she tried to free her grip, desperately tried to pull her hands free, but they were firmly trapped in her past. “No, no…”_

_Kara started pulling harder but her hands were not moving, her powers not responding, as she watched Lena’s tears silently start to drop with a growing sense of desperation. Kara heaved, violently pulled at her arms, desperately shook her head, but Lena gave her that sad and resigned look that Kara had come to loathe… before her finger started moving over the trigger._

 

“LENAAAA!!”

Kara’s scream lingered in the air as she panted and heaved, her tears wetting her face, and she noticed her arm stretched out towards the darkness. Kara breathed out and looked around, noticing her room, the closed curtains, her flower-printed pyjamas, the alarm clock that was telling her it was 4 in the morning and her thin blanket completely ripped apart by her outstretched hands. She whimpered as she hung her head and hugged her knees, sniffing at the memory of those dreams that wouldn’t stop plaguing her.

As if the vivid dreams of her mother and Mon-el being safe weren’t bad enough. As if her heart breaking  a little every time she woke up from the image of two people that were respectively gone forever and possibly lost in space weren’t bad enough, now Lena had started playing a part. Now every time that she dreamt of the people she knew were gone from her life, she also had to endure the recurring nightmare of losing the people she still had. And it had gotten so much worse. That stupid nightmare she’d had when she’d almost died at the hands of Lillian Luthor, now was becoming so much more frequent and Kara couldn’t stand it. She couldn’t stand that she was avoiding everyone so she wouldn’t have to face those nightmares. She couldn’t stand that she was barely able to face her best friend anymore because of those images. She couldn’t stand seeing Lena crying again, with that face that basically screamed that she didn’t think she deserved anything.

Kara hugged her knees tighter, praying it would be morning soon so she could continue with the reconstruction work of National City, because that way she wouldn’t have to think about it. That way she wouldn’t have to face her human emotions, or those ominous images of Lena being somehow included with the people that she’d lost. Because if she just ignored her human side, then maybe it would go away. If she just concentrated on being Supergirl and just stayed away from the people that would inevitably get hurt by being around her, then maybe the nightmares would stop. Maybe the image of Lena embracing death would just go away.

Because of course she cared about other people too, but Alex was a fighter. J’onn had found purpose in protecting the people of earth, and she was pretty sure that Winn was terrified at the thought of dying. But with Lena it was all so painfully plausible. How many times had she seen that resigned look on her face, when talking about her family’s legacy? How many times had Lena acted like her own life didn’t matter at all? With anyone else it would be a bad dream. With anyone else it would just be a stupid dream that for some reason just wouldn’t go away, but with Lena she couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t stand those images. Kara swallowed harshly as she clutched the small silver pendant around her neck with her best friend’s initials in it, promising herself she was going to avoid being Kara Danvers. She was just going to be Supergirl, and nothing else, because that was what mattered and that was how she saved people. And hopefully, that’s how the dreams would go away. Because she didn’t want to see it anymore. Not with Lena in it. Anyone else would be bearable, but not Lena.

 

Anyone… but not her Lena.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel, as promised. 
> 
> Winn's link: [If you were gay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taSH_nZkRdw)
> 
> Next week: A tale of two assistants and how one of them loses that distinction.


	2. Robert Van de Kamp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During Supergirl 3x01 
> 
> Since this is technically a series now (look at me getting arrogant), I decided to specify the 'Supergirl' part. (Example: This chapter would be PALL 2x02, which covers Supergirl 3x01.)

_August 28 th 2017_

 

“Hang on, I’m confused.”

Lena let out an exasperated sigh, looking up at Winn across her desk with a growing sense of frustration. To be fair, her current mood wasn’t entirely his fault, although he definitely wasn’t improving it right now.

After finally seeing Kara again a few hours earlier and promising to help with the whole Morgan Edge situation, the woman had just up and left, basically ignoring her invitation for brunch. Lena didn’t know what to think of Kara effectively avoiding her for the past few weeks. Sure, in the months prior she’d been busy with the reconstruction work of the city, so obviously that had impacted their time together. But now the city had been restored to its former glory, all was right with the world, and Lena still couldn’t get Kara to come and see her. It was all monumentally frustrating. ‘Monumental’, in the sense that Lena had actually started overseeing the construction of a monument in Supergirl’s honour, just so she could feel like she was spending time with her. It was pathetic and she knew it all too well, hence: frustration.

Maggie, who was seated across the desk next to Winn, didn’t seem in a much better mood. Apparently the fact that McConnell had been assigned as head of the special task force investigating Lillian’s floating turrets instead of her, had _really_ rubbed her the wrong way. But according to Winn there was more to it than that. He’d told Lena a few days earlier that Hank Henshaw had agreed to talk to the DEO in exchange for a shorter sentence. The cyborg had apparently also been motivated by the fact that he would get to spill some details on the accomplice that, if he was to be believed, had been supposed to help him in Metropolis during the attack but hadn’t shown up. However, the convoy that was transporting the cyborg back to National City had been ambushed, and he’d mysteriously vanished. So with Henshaw gone and no clues as to who did it, any plausible lead for Alex to find her father had been shut down. Making Alex miserable, and by proxy making Maggie even grumpier than she already was.

“Which part is confusing?” Lena asked evenly, feeling that she had explained the Roulette situation pretty thoroughly just now.

“I thought you _wanted_ to help ghosts now. At least that’s what you said after your party. So… why would it be so bad if Roulette told a few ghosts that you can see them? Just more cases for us to dig into, right?” he finished excitedly.

Lena let out a long breath through her nose, trying her very hardest not to let her frustration out on her friend. “I _do_ want to help ghosts, but I don’t want everybody finding out about my ability. If every dead person in town knew where to find me, they wouldn’t all just politely get in line and wait for their turn. They would all be standing in my office, begging me to help them.” Lena gave Winn an intent look, while he just frowned back. “Them knowing about me, gives them power over me. So yes, I want to help them, but for the sake of my sanity I can’t let just anyone find out about me. Neither dead nor living.” She huffed out a breath as she leaned back in her chair. “Just look what Roulette was able to do within a few minutes; I’m basically her puppet and I don’t even know why.”

“Hang on,” Winn started, his frown returning, “I’m confused again.” Lena couldn’t stop rolling her eyes, but she waited for him to elaborate anyway. “Don’t ghosts usually want to help people? I mean… they usually stay to help a family member, or a loved one, or-”

“No,” Lena interrupted, shaking her head at the man, “not all of them. If you’ll remember; Kerry Runnels stayed because she felt guilty about helping to poison the atmosphere and she wanted to make it right. John Corben stayed because he hated me for shooting him, and my mother stayed because she wanted to watch Supergirl die. Their intentions are hardly all noble, which is all the more reason to not let all of them know about my ability.”

“Oh! Oh!” Winn suddenly bounced up and down on his chair, looking back and forward between Maggie and Lena. “I got it!! She wants revenge!!” He kept looking between the two of them, as if he expected them to cheer with glee at the solving of the mystery. “That has to be it!! She wants to get back at whoever blew her up!!”

“Of course not, you idiot!!” Maggie barked. Lena raised her eyebrows as she and Winn were both slightly taken aback by the detective’s harsh tone. “Sorry,” Maggie muttered, “I’m just… not in the best mood lately. Do you mind if I…” she gestured in the direction of Lena’s liquor cabinet. Lena just nodded her approval, prompting Maggie to get up and pour herself some very old scotch.

Lena cleared her throat as Winn turned his attention back to her. “No… like Maggie just pointed out that would make no sense, because I offered to help her with whatever she needed. So she could’ve just asked…” Lena paused, thinking of the woman’s despicable character, “… _ordered_ me to do anything,” she corrected. “Besides, she even mentioned that she needed me as incentive to get the other ghosts to follow her lead. If she’d been trying to punish the person who had killed all of them, I’m guessing they wouldn’t have objected to helping her.” Lena sighed deeply as she rubbed her neck. “All we know for sure is that she wants to ‘garner knowledge’, whatever that means, and that she eventually plans to make me do something for her. And considering how secretive she’s being about it, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be something illegal, immoral, or both.”

“Huh…” Winn let out a breath, frowning again as he leaned back in his chair and seemed to process all of that.

“Any news on your end, by the way?” Lena asked, turning to Maggie who was now standing behind the visitor’s chair with her scotch in hand. “On the attack, or the victims, or anything else?”

“Well, technically I can’t disclose anything about ongoing investigations, so…” Maggie took a gulp of her drink, “…you kids didn’t hear this from me, got it?” Winn just nodded seriously, while Lena rolled her eyes at being called a kid again. “So, we’ve got no leads on the origin of the explosion yet; there was no trace of any kind of bomb or other explosive device. So far we’ve managed to identify two victims besides Roulette: The janitor and the security guard, but only because their families knew where they were working. All the bodies are literally in bits and pieces, so collecting DNA samples from them is proving to be quite a task. But we do already know that there is some alien DNA in there. Which makes sense…” Maggie took another sip of her drink.

“Why… why does that make sense?” Winn asked hesitantly, seemingly scared he was going to get yelled at again.

“Well, word on the street is that Roulette was setting up another one of her alien fight clubs. So I guess she'd already started recruiting.”

“Great,” Lena grumbled, letting out a tired sigh as she crossed her arms, “I’m sure that aliens who were desperate enough to fight each other for money will have _real_ easy problems to solve.” Maggie and Winn both looked at her, seemingly not knowing what to say, so Maggie just settled for taking another swig of her drink.

“Hey, come on, don’t worry about it!” Winn smiled encouragingly. “You’ve got your PALL here to help you! And after all…” he gave her a cheesy grin, “…you _are_ the BOTTOM!”

There was a loud coughing sound, as Maggie almost choked on her drink and the scotch spilled down her chin. “Wh- what- what did you call her?!” Maggie had a completely flabbergasted look on her face as she stared incredulously at Winn.

“I called her the BOTTOM,” he repeated, glancing towards Lena who was just as confused as him by this reaction. “You know… the Bringer Of Tranquillity To Overbearing Manifestations.”

“He does this all the time, Maggie,” Lena explained, still not sure what to make of the detective’s shocked expression, “he keeps trying to give me a superhero name using silly acronyms. Though this was definitely one of the worst yet.”

“Rude,” Winn retorted dryly.

“Okay, first of all,” Maggie huffed out a laugh as she wiped her face before sitting back down in her chair, “you two really need to update on your slang.” She chuckled to herself while Lena and Winn shared a confused look. “You almost gave me a heart attack there, Winn.” She turned to Lena with a mischievous grin. “I thought little Luthor and little Danvers had finally tied the girlfriend-knot.”

Lena’s insides froze, as she inhaled sharply and looked at Winn with wide eyes. “YOU TOLD HER?!!”

“No, no, I-”

“Oh, that’s just great!!” Lena shot up of her seat and threw her arms in the air. “Why don’t you start printing posters while you’re at it?! Make sure the whole city knows I kissed Kara!!”

“WHOA!!” Maggie jumped out of her seat and darted her eyes between the two of them. “YOU KISSED KARA?!”

Lena froze, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid. She glanced unsurely at Winn. “You… you _didn’t_ tell her?”

Winn threw his arms up in exasperation. “Seriously, why does everyone think I can’t keep a secret?! Of course I didn’t tell anyone about your Strawberry Panic!”

Maggie frowned at him. “Don’t you mean gay panic?”

“No, no. See, what happened was that Lena had been eating strawberries and that’s why, when Kara woke up-”

“She kissed her while she was out?!”

“That’s enough!!” Lena interrupted slightly hysterically. “If- if- if you didn’t know, why did- did you say the thing a- about g- girl- girlfriends…”

“I was joking!!” Maggie exclaimed. “I just thought you were _those_ girls!!”

“ _Those_ girls?” Lena asked confused.

“Well, you know; those two straight friends who have no idea how gay they’re acting.”

“Can we just…” Lena motioned incoherently, heat spreading on her face, as she felt more and more like this was the time to panic, “…can we just stop using that word, please?”

“What word?” Maggie questioned, still looking slightly shocked by this whole revelation.

“The- the- the thing… where… it’s- it’s not… I’m- I’m not g- gay… okay?!” Lena had to force out her words, wondering how she’d developed a stutter within half a minute.

“Oh, honey…” Maggie deflated as she seemed to look at her with something way too close to pity in Lena’s mind. Then the detective suddenly turned to Winn. “Get out.”

Winn blinked in confusion. “Wait, what? What did I do now?”

“Nothing, I just need to talk to Lena alone for a second, so get out.”

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair!! I’m just as much a part of-”

“Get out, Winn.”

“You’re just jealous that I figured out Lena liked Kara before you did-”

“OUT!”

Winn flinched as the detective stepped closer to him, before scurrying to his feet and leaving the office while muttering to himself in indignation. Lena just looked at the doors close behind him with her arms crossed and her cheeks flaming, wishing the ground would swallow her up right about now. Maggie gave her that same pitying look as before as she patted the chair on the other side of the desk. “Sit,” she demanded.

Lena pursed her lips. “What am I, a lapdog?” Maggie just raised an eyebrow at her, and Lena reluctantly gave in to the request as she rounded her desk and stiffly took a seat in the visitor’s chair, her arms still crossed and not looking the detective in the eye. Maggie sighed deeply as she sat down in the adjacent chair.

“So… you have feelings for Kara?”

“I- I don’t…” Lena swallowed nervously, “…I don’t know if- if… I’d use the word ‘feelings’, I…”

“Really?” Maggie raised her eyebrows at her. “What do you call it when you kiss someone, then?”

Lena just kept opening and closing her mouth, not sure what to say because yes, she had definitely used another word besides ‘feelings’ during her big speech to an unconscious Kara, but she wasn’t going to repeat that out loud right now. Or possibly ever. No chance, no way. She won’t say it, no, no.

“I feel like I should point out that it’s not cool to kiss someone who’s passed out,” Maggie started slowly, “but I’m not here to lecture you,” she quickly amended upon seeing Lena’s exasperated look. “I just… want to help you, Lena. I know what it’s like to feel confused about this.”

“Can you just…” Lena motioned aggressively for her to stop, “…not compare the situations?! It’s- it’s not the same, alright?! I’m not… like you… I…” she kept stammering, cursing her lack of articulation when it came to this matter. She breathed out her biggest objection, very softly, as if she was afraid of letting it get past her lips.

“What was that?” Maggie asked with a frown, not catching Lena’s whispered words.

“I said…” Lena swallowed, repeating it at an audible level, “I said I loved Jack.” Maggie stared at her for a second, before huffing out an incredulous breath. “I did!” Lena insisted upon seeing the woman giving her that curious look.

“I’m not saying you didn’t, but…” the detective hesitated, searching Lena’s eyes, “…is that the problem? You think you can’t have feelings for Kara because you were in love with Jack?”

Lena huffed as she finally uncrossed her arms and started fiddling with her fingers. “I mean… it…” she let out a  long sigh, “…it just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Luthor…” Maggie let out a short and humourless laugh as her incredulous look had returned, “…you know there’s a word for that, right?”

Lena frowned in confusion. “You mean… fickle?”

“I mean bisexual.”

Lena felt like she’d just been electrocuted, her adrenaline suddenly threatening to burst out of her, as she laughed a little too hard and aggressively shook her head. “HA! No, no- that- that is-” she kept shaking her head as she got up from the chair, wincing as she hit her hip against the side of the desk while trying to back away, “that’s not possible, I… I would-”

“Whoa! Hey, hey…” Maggie was in front of her in a flash, a firm hand on both her shoulders and trying to look her in the eye, “…breathe, Luthor.” Lena tried to do that, hearing that quack of a dr. Talbot in her head again, telling her to count to ten. “There’s no need to panic, just breathe.” Maggie kept holding her in place, while Lena took deep breaths until she didn’t feel like fainting quite as much. “Look, Lena… you don’t have to call yourself anything you don’t want to,” Maggie started carefully. “With that being said however… I can tell you from experience that it’s never a good idea to repress your feelings.” Lena swallowed, looking at Maggie’s expression which she guessed was supposed to be comforting. “Speaking of bad ideas,” the detective smirked, clearly trying to defuse the tension, “talking to Winn about this stuff was definitely one of them. He’s as straight as a gymnast’s handstand.”

Lena chuckled, the humour finally allowing her to let go of some of her panic, as she gave her friend an amused look. “He was right about one thing, though.” Lena’s smile grew wider at Maggie’s confused face. “He _did_ figure out I like Kara before you did.”

Maggie huffed out a breath as she crossed her arms. “I know, it’s kind of ridiculous. I keep going back and forth on whether he’s an idiot or a genius.” The detective briefly shook her head, before giving Lena a dimpled grin. “And good for you, by the way.” Maggie explained further at Lena’s confused look: “You said you like Kara. Actually telling someone is a pretty big step, you know?”

Lena’s face fell, not even having realised it, but before she could figure out what to say or if she even _had_ something to say, she suddenly caught sight of something behind Maggie. A man stepped straight through her wall, looking around the office as if he was searching for something, before his eyes fell on the two of them. “Which one of you is Lena Luthor?” he asked intently.

Lena swallowed, trying her best to mask the fact that she’d just been nearing a panic attack. “That would be me,” she responded coolly.

Maggie squinted her eyes at her, looking over her shoulder and then back again. “Ghost?” she simply questioned.

Lena just nodded, not looking away from the middle-aged man with dark grey hair, in the expensive-looking suit, who was giving her a determined expression. “Did Roulette send you?” she asked warily.

“Yes. My name is Robert Van de Kamp. She said that you’d be able to see me and that you would help me.”

Lena straightened her spine, her professional demeanour kicking in as she gave the man a small nod. “Yes… yes of course I’ll help you.”

Maggie cleared her throat, as she looked between Lena and the empty office. “Well, I’ll… I’ll leave you to it, then. And we’ll talk about… that thing later.” Lena was definitely not looking forward to talking about ‘that thing’ again, and she was slightly surprised when Maggie suddenly hugged her. With her arms still around her, the detective suddenly whispered in her ear: “Get some intel.”

“I’ll try,” Lena whispered back.

As the detective stepped back and gave her a small smile, the woman made a big circle around the space where she believed the ghost was supposed to be, while Lena thoughtfully looked the man over. She knew that first impressions weren’t everything, but this man sure had all the air of one of the many businessmen she came face to face with on a daily basis. She was pretty sure she’d never met him, though.

“Mr. Van de Kamp, was it?” she asked carefully. The man nodded his head in response. “I will of course help with any reasonable request you have,” she started, stepping past her desk and closer to the ghostly man, “but if you wouldn’t mind first answering a few questions about Roulette and what she asked you to do, then-”

“No.”

Lena raised her eyebrows at the immediate response. “No?” she questioned incredulously.

“I was specifically instructed not to talk about my services for Roulette to you, Ms. Luthor. So if we could get to my own problems…” he looked at her expectantly, but Lena wasn’t done yet.

“Look Mr… Robert… she can’t do anything to you. She doesn’t have to know that you talked to me, and I will help you anyway. There’s no need to be scared-”

“I am not scared,” the man interrupted, “I simply do not wish to be stuck in the middle of whatever cold war you two are engaged in. Being at the service of _one_ of you was quite enough,” he scoffed, giving almost a disgusted look, “so I think that now it’s time for _my_ problems to be heard.”

Lena let out a measured sigh, frustration bubbling up in her once more. “Is it really that hard to answer a few damn questions? Is it really too much to want to know what you did in the time that-”

“I just followed some people!” he snapped. Lena was momentarily stunned. “I followed a few people, told Roulette what I saw, she complained about my attitude several times, and today she finally told me your name.” Lena stared at him, feeling elated at getting some new information to solve the puzzle.

“Who were these people?” she asked intently. “Where did they-”

“I think I’ve told you enough,” the man stated harshly, seeming to struggle with his anger. “Are we going to get to me now? Or do I have to go back to Roulette and tell her you refused to help me?”

Lena’s excitement flooded away at being blackmailed for the second ghost in a row, before levelling the man with a cold glare. “Fine,” she stated coolly, “let’s hear it. How can I help you?”

The man huffed out a breath, seemingly satisfied with himself, as he straightened his jacket and started explaining his troubles: “I was doing just fine with my life. Business was booming, happily married, all of that. Quite frankly, the most disappointing thing about my life is the way it ended, although my son was a close second.” He huffed out another breath, seemingly struggling to contain his frustration. “I am the owner of… well, I _was_ the owner of Kamp Pharmaceutics. We develop, market and sell all kind of medical equipment to hospitals and institutions. I personally engaged in other endeavours as well but as you can see, those didn’t always turn out so well.” He bitterly shook his head. “I knew investing in that woman again would have been trouble…”

“Investing?” Lena prodded carefully.

“Yes, that’s why I was in that lousy building. I’d received an invitation to come and talk about investing into one of Roulette’s new projects.” He bitterly shook his head. “She definitely downgraded since her last event; the place was a dump. I knew I shouldn’t have gone in person…” he sighed as he fell quiet for a moment. “In any case, Roulette got called away and I was just being forced to listen to that old woman who apparently was also an investor tell some sentimental story about her granddaughter, when it happened: The whole building being blown apart…” the man seemed to go bleak for a moment. “It only hurt for less than a second… but it was more than enough…”

The man seemed to shake off his horror, before continuing. “Which brings me to that idiot of my son,” he started, his tone turning bitter, “he dropped out of college in February and suddenly declared that he didn’t want my money, that he wanted nothing to do with the family business anymore and that he was going to make it by himself.”

The man kept frowning at the floor, so Lena hesitantly spoke up. “That’s rather admirable, isn’t it? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to stand on your own two feet.”

“Oh, yes, and dropping out of college is definitely going to help with that, right?!” The man’s sarcasm was about as subtle as his anger. “He just needs to be set straight, so he can re-enrol in his advanced business program! That way he will have a future, and my company will be in good hands! Or at least well-meaning hands.”

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose, slowly feeling a headache setting in. Great. She needed to influence someone’s life decisions. Whatever happened to the good old days of a ghost just asking her to steal something?

“I’m sure that if he loses his job, he’ll run back to his trust fund in no time.”

Lena instantly lowered her hand, her eyes going cold. “Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Van de Kamp,” she started slowly, her voice dropping to a warning tone, “I don’t actually deal in shady practices. I can’t just snap my fingers and have anyone in town fired.”

The man actually laughed at that as he crossed his arms. “It shouldn’t be too difficult in this case.” He gave her a strange look. “Considering he works for you.”

Lena frowned at the man, mentally going over the building’s employees in her head. As is usually the case when looking for something, the answer was closer than she originally thought. “Van de Kamp…” Lena’s eyebrows shot up as the name clicked, “you’re Hector’s father?!”

“Indeed,” the man replied unamused, “so if you just fire him, I’m sure he’ll reconsider this senseless crusade of his.” Lena took a moment to steady herself, before giving the man a defiant look.

“I will not be told how to treat my employees.” Lena glared at the man  and quickly continued before he could start protesting. “I appreciate that you’re concerned about him, but just forcing him to do things your way won’t make him happy.” Lena paused, the gears turning in her head as she looked for a way to appease Robert’s ghost without being unfair to Hector. “Let me-”

“Make him happy?!” the man spat incredulously. “I’m talking about financial security and not throwing away your future! Not some vague notion of ‘being happy’! What kind of businesswoman are you, if you can’t understand that?” He scoffed, looking her up and down. “What are you, a Democrat or something?”

Lena frowned, now being rather unamused herself. “Libertarian, if you must know,” she replied with ice in her voice. “But politics aside, I think it would be best for everyone if I just talked to him. You might still be right,” Lena held out her hand as she said it, seeing the man getting ready to protest again, “he might indeed be better off going back to college. But if that’s the case I will try and reason with him, _not_ just fire him to get my way. I don’t wish to treat people that way.” Lena looked on as the man still appeared to be stewing. “Mr. Van de Kamp, he is your son,” Lena insisted, “would it really be so bad to hear what he has to say?” The ghost in front of her seemed to deflate a little as Lena glanced at her watch. “Look, I have to meet with Morgan Edge right now, but after that I can schedule a moment to _calmly_ have a chat with your son. Is that acceptable?” She raised her eyebrows, giving the spectre a questioning look.

The man let out a sigh, not looking entirely convinced, but in the end he gave a small nod. “Very well. But if you can’t convince him… then we’re doing it my way.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

750 million dollars…

Lena swallowed, looking at her computer which was displaying her freshly depleted bank account. There was no other way, right? I mean, Edge hadn’t left her another choice. With his dubious hands on CatCo, the people would lose the most trustworthy news outlet in the city. And sure, whatever, Kara had benefitted from her actions too, but that hadn’t been a factor. Only someone who’d lost their mind would spend that kind of money on a good friend keeping their job. A good friend… She could almost hear Maggie and Sam laughing at her for that particular phrasing. Thinking about Sam, Lena suddenly felt a whole lot worse about buying CatCo, considering Snapper would definitely not be happy about this turn of events. She’d even talked to the girl about why this was a bad idea, and yet here we were. Lena sighed as she closed her laptop, momentarily putting a pin in her risky investment, before throwing a wary glance to her left where the ghost of Robert Van de Kamp was pacing restlessly.

“You know I can’t tell him you’re dead, right?” she started carefully. “No one is supposed to know about that yet.”

The man waved dismissively, still pacing. “I don’t care what you tell him, just get him in line.”

Lena was momentarily stunned by the man’s lack of interest in informing his relatives about his death. She’d already been prepared to explain that she could tell Maggie later on to match his DNA with the found remains, but hey, one less argument to have today. The standoff with Morgan Edge and having to actually reprimand Trevor for being late had already been quite enough for her taste. Although it was still a low count by her standards.

“Remember to mention the horrible job prospects.” Robert continued, eyes fixed on the floor. “Not to mention the-”

“Ms. Luthor?” Lena and Robert both looked to the doors, where a timid knock was followed by Hector carefully stepping inside. “You wanted to see me?”

Lena straightened her posture and put her game face on. “Yes, please have a seat.” She motioned to the visitor’s chairs and Hector crossed the room to sink down in one, looking rather uneasy.

“Um… am I in trouble? Because I’m really sorry about the coffee, I promise I’ll remember-”

“No, Hector, please relax.” She smiled at her second assistant, trying  to reassure him. “It’s just that when Jess hired you, we were kind of in a rush to find a replacement after the whole… Alana situation. So I thought it was time we finally had a proper interview.”

“An- an interview?!” The man sat up, looking alarmed. “So, like, are you considering other candidates now too, or… oh god… am I losing my job?!” Hector looked like he was about to panic, so Lena held out her hand.

“You’re not losing your job, Hector.”

“Oh, really?!” the sneer from beside her was loud and Lena clenched her jaw, ignoring the voice of the man who wasn’t supposed to be there.

“I just make a point of getting to know my employees.” Lena reassured her assistant, who leaned back in his chair, albeit still seeming less than comfortable. “So…” Lena slid the man’s résumé closer to herself, “…Hector Julius Van de Kamp, 20 years old, went to high school right here in National City, got into Stanford University in 2015, but dropped out a little over a year later, despite solid academic results.” Lena looked up, Hector looking sheepishly to the side. “That’s all correct, right?”

“Yep. That’s me. Well, I’m almost 21 but who’s counting, right?” He chuckled nervously, but realised that this probably wasn’t the best moment to joke around. Lena kept her composure, despite feeling aggravated that she was apparently going to have to drag the information out of him.

“So… anything else?” Lena inquired. “Just… tell me about yourself. For example, what made you want to study business? Why Stanford?”

Hector sighed, scratching his neck before unsurely responding. “It wasn’t really a decision, exactly, I…” he sighed again and shifted in his seat, “…I never really considered any other option. Look, Ms. Luthor…” he leaned forward and turned unusually serious, “…the truth is I never really thought much about my future as a kid. You know, my dad had this big company, he expected me to take over at some point, he had my whole school trajectory planned out for me and quite frankly it never really bothered me that much. I never really cared. It’s not like I had some… I don’t know, some burning desire to be a doctor or an artist or whatever, so why not take a guaranteed future, right? Even if it did involve _that_ guy…” he paused for a moment looking at the floor.

“That guy?” Lena inquired carefully.

“My dad,” Hector clarified. “He and I, we… never really got along. He always made it clear I wasn’t trying hard enough, that I was too smart to be getting average grades or that I was too articulate to not get involved in debate clubs, or that I was too lax in general.”

“He was a spoiled brat and nothing else!!” Robert snapped. “He was the laziest person you’ll ever meet, and if he had even _tried_ to put the effort in to live up to his potential, he-” Lena took advantage of Hector still looking at the floor to shoot the ghost beside her a warning glare. The man huffed through his nose, ending his rant as he put his hands behind his back and begrudgingly fell quiet.

“It was mostly manageable, really,” Hector continued, as Lena focused her attention back to him, “until the end of last year, at least.” The assistant swallowed, frowning deeply as he stayed quiet for a moment, before lifting his head and continuing with a troubled look on his face. “It happened during Christmas break. I was back home and I overheard my dad complaining about some alien fight club that got shut down. Apparently he was annoyed that it wasn’t a useful investment anymore now that it got broken up by the cops. He wasn’t angry about the whole thing, he was just annoyed. I mean… he didn’t hate aliens… he didn’t think they were a threat to national security, or anything like that. He just didn’t care… he didn’t care how many were being mangled or dying in there… he didn’t care.”

Lena frowned at the young man, as he looked incredibly bitter while wringing his hands together. “So when I got back to college, I just didn’t know what to do. I mean, wasn’t I being exactly like him? Wasn’t I just at Stanford because I didn’t really care about my future? How long until I turned into my dad? How long until I would stop caring about other people’s lives? How long until I would start making money off other people’s misery without even caring about it?”

Lena swallowed nervously at the young man’s story as she shot a glance to her left, expecting Robert to bark something back at his son again. Instead, she saw the man looking at Hector with a very deep frown.

“It was about a month later that I read that article and that I finally decided to do something about it. It was the one in CatCo, after you escaped from Cadmus and after everyone thought you had joined them.” He actually smiled now as he shifted in his seat. “I mean, it kind of put things in perspective, you know? You were like me on steroids. Metaphorical ones, I mean. While I had this slightly controlling father and this sense that I was stuck on a path that I didn’t want anymore, you had a mother leading a terrorist organisation and who was kidnapping you and you still got out of it, all the while keeping this gigantic business under your thumb.” Hector smiled nervously at her, while Lena was slightly taken off guard by the turn of the conversation. “I mean… maybe this sounds weird, but… your story was pretty inspirational.”

Scratch being taken off guard, Lena could now count herself completely floored. She struggled to form a response, which is probably why she ended up asking the least relevant question. “You read CatCo magazine?”

“Well… yeah. Their fashion articles are pretty extensive, they definitely go a lot more in-depth than most other magazines.”

Lena actively refrained herself from asking about his reading habits, instead inviting him to continue his story.

“Oh, right,” Hector cleared his throat, “so then I did it. I dropped out, I went back to National City and told my dad what was up. He was furious, of course, but I finally didn’t have to care about what he thought anymore.” He smiled wryly. “If he wanted to keep funding the torturing of aliens, fine, but at least I didn’t have to be a part of it anymore. At least I could say that I wanted nothing to do with that monster. I mean, it was still kind of a hard pill to swallow… my dad being a lot worse of a person than I thought, but…” Hector laughed self-consciously, “well, I’m sure I don’t need to explain to _you_ how that feels.” He chuckled again, while Lena swallowed nervously, feeling very surprised by the extended silence from the ghost beside her. “Of course after that, things got even less rosier.”

Lena frowned. “How so?”

“Well as it turns out, nobody is really eager to hire a college dropout, no matter how prestigious the college was. Also, I was kind of surprised by what passes for a ‘standard’ apartment.” Hector shook his head, looking mildly horrified. “Living in a room the size of a post stamp is something I’m still getting used to.”

“Forgive me, Hector,” Lena interrupted, “but while I understand where you’re coming from, so far you’ve only mentioned that you don’t want to be like your father. So… what is it you _do_ want to be?”

“Well, I don’t know… I just… wanted to be useful, you know? I…” he scratched his neck looking slightly embarrassed, “I just… wanted to be more like you, I guess.” The man paused, looking at his shoes, and Lena was torn between being flattered and being suspicious. Because admiring Lena Luthor this much, was something she thought only Kara was capable of. And maybe the people in that one alien bar, but still, it wasn’t something she encountered every day. “So that’s why I got real excited when I saw that add about being an assistant at L-Corp,” Hector continued. “I didn’t really think I’d have a chance of getting the job but you know, I had to try. But then I showed up and it turned out that the only requirements were _: ‘Has a basic understanding of economics’_ and _‘Can start right now’_. So… here I am.”

Hector let out a nervous chuckle as he gestured towards himself, while Lena was struggling with herself right now. The young man seemed incredibly happy to be working here, but if she didn’t at least _try_ to get him away from L-Corp, she could make the ghost beside her very mad. Which in turn could get her into hot water with Roulette, which in turn would not bode well for her long-term mental health. She leaned her elbows on the desk, giving Hector an intent look. “So you don’t intend to go back to college?” she asked with a frown. “You don’t have any plans beyond… being my assistant?”

Hector’s smile faded as he seemed to shrink under Lena’s intent look. “Not really?” he said in a slightly pleading voice. “I mean… maybe someday I’ll find something that I really want to do, but… for now I’m just happy that I can be useful. For a company… and a person… who are trying to do good.” He gave her an uncertain look. “I mean, that… that’s not a bad thing, right?”

Lena clenched her jaw as she kept giving her second assistant an intent look. Her mind was working overtime, desperately trying to come up with another solution. One that wouldn’t end with Roulette unleashing her worst nightmare on her or with Hector losing a job that, to be honest, Lena felt less and less like taking away from him. Lena kept sitting there, probably a little too long, before pulling the trigger on a very hard decision. But in the end… she simply refused to face the alternative.

“Thank you, Hector, I’m glad we had this talk.” She started shoving the papers in front of her to the side, while Hector hesitantly stood up from his chair.

“That’s it? There is-” he momentarily flinched at the sound of his phone buzzing, but he ignored it, “there is really nothing else?”

Lena raised her eyebrows. “Why, do you need to tell me something else?”

“Oh… no.” He laughed with apparent relief. “I was just really worried there for a second. I mean… I know that Jess isn’t exactly my biggest fan,” he finished unsurely.

Lena smiled. “She just has very high standards. I’m sure she’ll come around if you keep at it.”

Hector smiled with relief before thanking her and heading for the exit, taking out his phone that had buzzed another few times with incoming texts. The man frowned at the screen and Lena still heard his muttered words before he reached the double doors: “Who the hell is Eve Tessmacher?”

Lena was very nervous as she threw a glance to her side, expecting a fierce argument to be on the horizon between herself and the ghost of Hector’s father. But the man wasn’t even looking at her; he stepped right through the desk, his hand outstretched to the doors that were closing behind Hector. “Wait…”

Lena was highly surprised at the man’s tone, not anywhere near as commanding as it had been before. She watched as the man lowered his hand and hung his head while leaning back against the very desk he’d just stepped through. Lena ignored all the metaphysical questions that image raised, instead rounding the desk and stopping next to the man.

“I didn’t realise…” he breathed out, “I had no idea he hated me that much…”

Lena crossed her arms as she gave the ghost a pensive look. “Look… Robert… I can’t exactly say I agree with your investments. But I can tell you from experience that you’re far from the worst parent in the world.” She tried to give the ghost a sympathetic look, the scars on her back maybe tingling a little, but the man kept looking at the double doors.

“Ms. Luthor… could you do me a favour?” The man finally looked over, giving Lena a deep frown. “If he’s still your assistant in three years… could you tell him to get his act together?”

Lena’s eyebrows shot up, relief setting in now that she realised the man wasn’t going to go running back to Roulette. “Yes,” she said softly, “of course.”

“Good,” the man nodded to himself. “It’s just… some people are too smart to be someone’s assistant forever, you know?”

“Yes,” Lena agreed, looking to the side while not really thinking about Hector right now. “You’re right.”

Lena was still looking away, when she noticed the light out of the side of her eye. She looked back at the man beside her, finding that he had started emitting light. The ghostly man didn’t say another word as he just kept looking at the double doors where his son had just walked out, while the light started glowing brighter. Lena watched the now very familiar sight of the light starting to move over the man’s figure, as it crept from the top of his head and the outside of his arms and legs towards the centre of his stomach. His face disappeared behind the glow, as slowly but surely the light merged together below his ribs, leaving just the outline of a human body, shaped by the light. The figure started pulling apart, the light forming those familiar orbs that slowly started detaching themselves and floating away. Lena kept looking as they hung motionless in the air for a moment before starting to fade. She never looked away, as they kept dimming and dimming until finally, all traces of the ghost of Hector’s father were gone. Leaving just the youngest Luthor leaning against her desk, looking at the empty space beside her.

 

Robert Van de Kamp had just passed on.

Lena stood there for a long time, with countless worries running through her head. Like Hector finding out about his father’s death once Maggie would match the man’s DNA with the remains in the demolished fight club. Like if all the other ghosts sent by Roulette would try to blackmail her. Like the complete mystery of Roulette using these ghosts to stalk people. Like what the woman would command her to do, once she would feel that Lena could be ‘useful to her’. But in the end, she put it all at the back of her mind. Not only because of her increasingly severe headache, but also because she had to focus on her impending public speech about a certain blonde Superhero.

And focus on _not_ letting her disproportionate affection for the woman shine through while she did it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lena just couldn’t seem to get through a public speech without some catastrophe occurring.

Which would have definitely been her main concern at the moment, if it wasn’t for Supergirl grabbing Morgan Edge by his collar and flying out the window with him just now. Lena was biting her nails while staring out of her office window, because after ignoring her for the past few weeks, this was now the second display of glaringly unusual behaviour by Kara. She was still worrying about it, when the superhero suddenly made her return, graciously landing on her balcony before stepping inside with very little of her Supergirl bravado to be seen.

“Kara…” she quickly glanced towards the doors to make sure they were really alone.

“Um… hi. Sorry about that…” Kara mumbled, arms crossed and not seeming very sure of herself.

“It’s fine, just…” Lena frowned at the woman, “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but is Morgan Edge alright?”

“Oh, yeah he’s fine,” Kara waved her hand, her trademark smile still conspicuous by its absence. “I just left him to cool off for a while, I’m sure the coast guard will get him eventually.”

“The coast guard?!!”

“Yeah, but he’s actually the reason I came back to talk to you.” Kara crossed her arms again, as Lena gave her a questioning look. “He is more dangerous than we thought. He ordered that attack on the waterfront.”

“Well,” Lena huffed out a breath, “I guess-”

“So you really need to stay away from him.”

Lena raised her eyebrows at the superhero. “You make it sound like I always go looking for trouble,” she smirked, trying to at least get Kara to show a glimpse of a smile.

“I’m serious, Lena,” the alien woman stepped closer, “you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. I can’t lose…” Kara swallowed, looking very uncomfortable for a moment, “…I mean… you should be careful with your life.”

Lena huffed, thinking she sounded awfully familiar to that quack of a dr. Talbot, when talking about how precious life could be. God, she hated that guy. “While I do try to be careful,” she started, “Edge has stakes in about a dozen companies in this city. I can’t exactly guarantee I won’t run into him at some point.” Lena  looked on as the alien woman crossed her arms and gave her a deep frown. “But speaking of avoiding people,” Lena swallowed, as she looked into those distant blue eyes, “is there… any reason why you’ve been ignoring me for the past few weeks?”

Kara shook her head. “No, I haven’t… I told you, I’ve just been busy,” she muttered softly.

As Kara gazed at the floor, Lena recognised the look of someone who wasn’t telling the whole truth. She took a step closer, feeling out of her depth in the least pleasant way possible, as she looked at Kara without even bothering to attempt upholding her poise and dignity anymore. “Kara, did I… did I do something wrong?” Lena almost winced at the sound of her own voice, because she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d sounded so pathetic.

“No… no, of course not,” Kara muttered, still looking at the floor.

“Okay…” Lena swallowed, feeling torn between preserving a shred of dignity and finding out what was wrong with Kara, “…because you know you can tell me anything, right? Whatever is bothering you…” she took another tentative step closer to Kara, who wasn’t smiling at her or sitting next to her or fretting over her or doing any of the things that made Kara… well, Kara. Lena didn’t know if she could stand it for much longer.

“Actually… there’s this _one_ thing that has been bothering me. Something kind of disturbing… something Winn said…”

Lena felt her heart drop as she froze in place. Of course Winn couldn’t keep a secret. Of course he’d told the woman everything. Everything was ruined, Kara would never want to see her again, and Lena would spend the rest of her days torturing Winn in her basement, pulling his nails out with a rusty-

“…he said you hate musicals.”

Lena involuntarily huffed out a laugh, out of relief more than anything. “And that’s… that’s disturbing?” she forced out through her nervous laughter.

“Well, yeah…” Kara’s brow relaxed and oh… right there… that was almost a smile, wasn’t it? “…we’ve watched plenty of musicals together and you never said anything! I even showed you The Wizard of Oz, which is like, the greatest musical ever!”

Lena let out another fit of giggles at the sight of Kara seemingly showing a glimpse of her former self. “I was just trying to take an interest in your tastes,” she smiled, “but I’m sorry, it’s really hard to enjoy a movie when people suddenly burst into song all the time.” Lena smirked. “People don’t do that, you know?”

“But they could!” Lena laughed out loud at Kara’s apparent offence. “Here, I’ll show you…” Kara loudly cleared her throat and adjusted her stance. Lena frowned at the action, her smile still in place, but before she could question it Kara opened her mouth again:

“ _Though it’s you and it’s I, all the time…”_

“Kara, what-”

_“…every meeting’s a marvellous pastime,”_

“Are you seriously doing this right now?”

_“You’re increasingly sweet,”_

Lena snorted loudly at the woman’s impromptu concert. “Oh my god, Kara.”

_“So whenever we happen to meet…”_

“Someone’s going to hear you,” Lena tried to protest, but she was barely controlling her laughter anymore as she cackled loudly at the sight of Supergirl singing in the middle of her office.

_“I greet you…”_ Lena completely lost it, as Kara started swaying with her arms stretched out as if she was directing an imaginary orchestra, _“…with a song in my heart.”_

“Oh, god… stop…” Lena was barely standing up at this point, as she held her stomach while the bursts of laughter were testing her ribs, and she tried to not fall out of her heels at the hilarious sight of Supergirl bursting out into song.

“See, it’s… it’s completely appropriate sometimes…” Kara chuckled.

Lena’s giggles quickly died out, because she’d heard the wonderful sound of Kara’s laughter and as she looked up, she caught sight of Kara’s wide grin and happy chuckles. “I’ve missed your smile…” she breathed out. Lena instantly regretted her impulsive choice of words, as Kara seemed to go stiff for a moment and looked as if she suddenly remembered that she wasn’t supposed to have fun.

“Yeah, I… I really have to go now, though.”

“Okay,” Lena said, stepping closer ungraciously fast.

“I think I heard a-” Kara inhaled sharply and didn’t finish her thought, because Lena had suddenly wrapped her in a hug. And yes, Lena was well aware that this was the single most childish response to her best friend pulling away from her, but Kara had been about to fly away again and this was all Lena felt like doing right now: Hold her close.

“Don’t be a stranger,” she muttered, unable to steady the tone of her voice as she was once again reminded of how little control she had over her emotions in the woman’s presence. While Lena said it, Kara’s stiff posture suddenly moved, as the girl of steel put her arms around her in return and Lena was very confused. She was confused, because Kara had just let out a ragged breath, as if she’d missed her as much as Lena had missed Kara. She was confused, because Kara was hugging her so tight that it was almost painful, and it was almost as if the hero was afraid to ever let go of her. And again, Lena was very confused because hadn’t _she_ been the one who’d been avoiding her? Why did it feel like Kara had had enough of her one minute, only to hug her like she was afraid of losing her the next? Was there anything at all that made even a lick of sense anymore these days? Lena just stood there, hoping Kara would hold her for another minute, maybe another hour, possibly one more lifetime… when they were both startled by the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat.

They quickly let go  of each other to see Jess standing there, while giving both of them a curious look. “Ms. Luthor… I have CatCo’s organisational structure and their financial overview from last year, like you asked.”

“Ah, yes,” Lena nervously straightened her skirt, as she reluctantly stepped away from Kara and took the files that Jess had brought in, quickly skimming the contents.

“Could I have a word with you? In private?”

Lena blinked as she looked up, rather baffled at her assistant’s request. “You can talk freely, Jess,” she said with confusion in her voice, “I have nothing to hide fr-”

“No, no, I meant… could I have a word with Supergirl?” Jess pointedly looked past Lena and at the hero standing behind her.

“Oh,” Kara said, sounding as surprised as Lena felt, “well… sure, I guess…” she shrugged in Lena’s direction as she followed Jess towards the door, throwing one last confused look over her shoulder before closing the doors behind her. Lena blinked a few times, now left standing alone in her office, and she wondered what on earth Jess felt she couldn’t talk about in front of her. She supposed she could add that to the growing list of mysteries in her life.

Whatever happened to the good old days when she could always count on logic to prevail?

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

A heart.

Lena stared at her phone in horror as she realised what she had just done.

A red goddamn heart.

Lena groaned loudly into her hands, because this was the most embarrassing thing she had ever done, and yes, that included her speech to an unconscious Kara. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t _that_ bad, but it was still ridiculous. It was all Kara’s fault, really. First she ignored her for weeks, then she showed up in her billowing cape and took off with her newest rival like some knight in shining armour, then she hugged her like she never wanted to let go (and to be honest, Lena wouldn’t mind if she didn’t), and then she left without saying goodbye. So, yeah, if her emotions were maybe flooding out of her a little bit after the woman finally sent her a text for the first time in god knows how long, then it was all Kara’s fault!

Lena rubbed her neck, still sitting in her office despite the fact that Kara would definitely disapprove of that considering it was 9 PM, as she wondered what she should do now. Was sending a heart a red flag? Did this mean Kara would get suspicious now? I mean, it’s not appropriate to send your friends hearts via text messages, right? Even Kara with all her emoji-ridden texting habits, never seemed to include that particular icon. Or _was_ it something that friends do? Lena groaned dramatically, because at times like these her lack of experience in having friends really didn’t do her any favours.

“Ms. Luthor?” Lena looked up at the voice, seeing Jess poke her head inside, before fully stepping through. “You wanted to see me?”

Lena cleared her throat, momentarily forcing her strawberry panic _-(Panic! Just panic! Goddamn you, Winn!)-_ to the back of her mind as she focused on Jess who stepped up to the desk.

“Yes, I did,” she said, standing up from her seat as she rounded the desk to come face to face with her assistant. “So as you know, I have just acquired CatCo. Which was an unforeseen expense,” Lena huffed, “but given the circumstances, something that needed to be done.”

“It was very brave,” Jess stated stoically, not a hint of irony to be seen on her face.

“Be that as it may,” Lena smiled, “I will need someone to run L-Corp, while I familiarize myself with the ins and outs at CatCo; I will preferably be spending the majority of my upcoming time over there.”

Jess nodded seriously. “Way ahead of you, Ms. Luthor. I’ve already compiled a list of possible candidates who might be fit to act as your CFO. It’s on my desk, I’ll go and get-” she went to turn around, but Lena motioned her to stop.

“While I appreciate that, Jess,” she started, turning more serious, “I actually already have someone in mind.”

“Oh, okay.” Jess kept giving her a questioning look, while Lena stayed quiet for a moment. “So… are you going to tell me who it is?” she asked.

Lena gave a thin smile. “You.”

Jess seemed to momentarily freeze, and Lena could almost see her assistant forcing that word through her mental faculties. “Oh…” her eyes went wide. “OH!” She promptly dropped her writing pad on the floor, before scrambling to pick it back up. “Are- are- are you sure, Ms. Luthor?! I mean, with my limited experience and the fact I’ve never held a similar-”

“Before you start doubting yourself,” Lena interrupted, “might I point out that you actually _do_ have a degree in both management and economics, despite never getting to put them to full use. You’ve also been shadowing me for over two years, so you know,” she tried to wink, but didn’t quite pull it off, “you’ve learned from the best. Besides…” Lena turned completely serious, “some people are too smart to be someone’s assistant forever. And there’s no one else I would trust with my company.” Jess swallowed, seemingly processing everything, as Lena looked her over. “So… are you interested?” she asked carefully.

Jess looked up and, like she so often did, lifted her chin and put her hands behind her back like a military cadet while giving Lena an intent look. “I would be honoured,” she stated seriously. Lena chuckled at the seriousness in Jess’s voice, but before she could point out that she didn’t need to be this solemn about it, Jess suddenly frowned as if she’d suddenly thought of something. “Ms. Luthor… as your CFO I would be in charge of everything… including personnel matters, correct?” Jess was starting to show a wide grin, but Lena’s mood turned serious.

“You’re not firing Hector,” she stated firmly.

“Damn it.”

Lena fondly shook her head at the disappointment. “He’s really not that bad, Jess. But I do appreciate that now _all_ my employees will be held to high standards.” She smiled at her soon-to-be former assistant.

“What about…” Jess gave her a determined look, “…the PR department?”

Lena squinted her eyes at the woman, who didn’t flinch, before letting out a sigh. “Spare the interns.”

“Yes!!”

Lena snorted at the outburst, while Jess seemed too happy to be self-conscious about it. “We will go over the details tomorrow, but considering we will soon be sharing duties in running L-Corp, there is something very important you could already start doing right now.” Lena started to smirk at the woman who just nodded seriously. “You can go home at a reasonable hour.”

“Oh.” Jess deflated slightly as she glanced at the clock at the wall. “Well, alright. Goodnight, Ms. Luthor.” Jess started walking away, very audibly muttering something about pots and kettles, when Lena suddenly remembered something.

“Jess…” the woman stopped near the doors and turned around, while Lena gave her a small frown, “…when we needed to hire a new assistant, you spent a whole day interviewing people. If you really didn’t think that much of Hector… why did you hire him anyway?” she asked confused. Jess turned to face her fully, resuming her military cadet stance, before responding seriously.

 

“He was the only one who admired you as much as I do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering; Samantha Arias is still in National City and she's still Reign, but she won't feature prominently in this story. Also, bonus points if you can spot either the Disney song reference, or the anime reference.
> 
> Kara's song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1hxo7HwkK4
> 
> Next week: Lena and Winn go out on a mission, and we find out what Jess told Supergirl.


	3. Jay Lasseter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During Supergirl 3x02

_September 12 th 2017_

 

Lena was supposed to be tough.

She was supposed to be poised and dignified in her new place of work. She was supposed to keep looking ahead. She was supposed to walk away with her head held high and her shoulders squared after telling off an unruly employee. But because that unruly employee happened to be Kara Danvers, she forgot everything she was supposed to be after taking five steps, and instead slowed down and threw a glance over her shoulder. She was just in time to catch Kara briskly walking towards the elevator, and Lena felt an unreasonable sting of guilt. It was unreasonable, because Kara’s behaviour _was_ unacceptable. It _was_ unprofessional, and Lena had every right to confront her about it. But she would so much prefer it, if Kara would just tell her what was going on with her. Lena sighed as she walked past James’ office and towards the nearby cubicles, because the day had started off so positive, she thought bitterly.

_“Ahhh, Lena!”_

_The ding of her elevator had barely sounded upon arriving at the top floor of L-Corp, when Lena was greeted by a familiar face, the man walking up to her while she stepped into the hallway to her office. Lena smiled at the old man while behind him, Jess looked less than pleased._

_“Mr. Berkley,” Lena gently greeted back, as the elderly board member shook her hand. “We don’t see you on the top floor that often.”_

_“Ahhh, yes,” the old man nodded his head, causing the few strands of white hair on his head to bounce along. “I was just giving some advice to your new director,” he motioned to Jess, who gave him the most forced smile Lena had ever seen._

_“Mr. Berkley…” Lena interjected, “…we call them CFO’s these days.”_

_“Oh, yes, yes,” he croaked a small laugh while shaking his head, “they just keep changing the names of things. It gets rather confusing sometimes, I… oh, dear.” He suddenly glanced at his watch. “I should get going, but it was nice to see you again, Lena. You ladies have a good day.” He waved at Lena and Jess, before slowly shuffling to the elevator and pressing the button for the ground floor. As soon as the doors closed, Jess was standing beside her with her arms crossed and an unfriendly look on her face._

_“Is he always so patronising?” Jess asked coolly._

_“Patronising?” Lena asked with raised eyebrows._

_“He called you by your first name.”_

_“He’s known me since I was five.”_

_“He used your private elevator.”_

_“He’s 68, I can’t exactly force him to use the stairs.”_

_“He kept trying to tell me how to do my job,” Jess grumbled, her arms still crossed._

_Lena just laughed at that. “I’ll admit he’s a bit overbearing at times, but he’s the only board member I can trust to always be fair.” Jess just huffed in annoyance, clearly not entirely convinced by Lena’s assessment. “But let’s talk about more urgent matters,” she gave her former assistant an intent look. “Are you nervous?” she asked, her voice softening considerably. “About your first day running L-Corp by yourself?”_

_“No,” Jess immediately shot back. They both looked at each other in silence for a moment. “Okay, fine, I’m terrified.” Jess huffed out a breath, nervously adjusting her shirt, and Lena couldn’t help but feel like she was looking at a mirror through space and time, as this was almost the exact state she’d been in when the board had offered her the job of CEO of L-Corp a little over two years ago. But only behind closed doors, of course. When there was no one to see that there were sometimes cracks in her mask of poise and dignity._

_“Relax, Jess. I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she reassured her. “We both will,” she added, because she was about to dive into a relatively foreign business herself, after all._

_“So… how about you?” Jess questioned. “Are_ you _nervous?”_

_Lena shrugged. “A little, I suppose.” She refrained from explaining that her nerves more resembled butterflies, and that her hesitant smile was less uncertainty and more barely contained excitement at the thought of seeing Kara all day. And all day, every day for the foreseeable future. Okay, so maybe she was nervous. “But it’s all going to be fine,” she reassured Jess. “I mean,” she chuckled as she shrugged and huffed out a breath, “what’s the worst that could happen?”_

 

Kara snapping at her was the worst that could happen.

And fine, whatever, she knew that wasn’t entirely accurate and that maybe, just maybe, she was being a little dramatic. But apart from serious physical injury or one of her companies experiencing a freak crash in market value, this pretty much _was_ the thing that would make her feel worse than anything else.

Lena sighed as she kept walking across the work floor, wondering what else could be going through Kara’s head if her curious behaviour as of late really wasn’t about Mon-el. I mean, it wasn’t as bad as before; she was actually smiling again, they were texting, and she wasn’t avoiding her _that_ much, but it was still a far cry from the permanent ray of sunshine she used to be. Even Winn and Maggie didn’t seem to understand what was going on. Lena tried, but she couldn’t think of any other explanation that could warrant so much distance in such a sweet and caring person. She didn’t get a chance to think any deeper about it. She didn’t get a chance, because as she walked past all the busy work stations she suddenly saw something rather unusual.

There was a teenager standing in the middle of the busy work floor, looking completely lost. The skinny boy, sporting jeans, a blue hoodie and an unsure expression, was searching the room with his eyes. Lena frowned as she stepped closer to the blond kid who was about as tall as her, while he kept gazing unsurely around the office.

“Are you looking for someone?” she questioned. The teenager jumped up in surprise, turning around with a start. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Lena reassured him, as the teenager just kept looking at her with wide eyes.

“You’re Lena Luthor!”

“Um… yes,” Lena said unsurely, not sure what the big deal was, “were you looking for someone?” she repeated, trying to remember if any of the employees on the floor had children. Normally she would scold herself for not knowing such basic information, but come on, it was her first day at CatCo for crying out loud.

“Well… yeah, um… you. I was looking for you. Roulette said you help dead people?”

Lena tensed, realising she’d been talking to thin air in the middle of a crowded office. She nervously looked to her sides, noticing that no one seemed to have caught her curious behaviour. She took out her phone, sighing with relief at her dumb luck. Because that was way too close. One of these days, she thought bitterly as she brought the phone to her ear. One of these days she really needed to come up with a method to recognise ghosts without them having to walk through solid objects.

“Yes,” Lena spoke into her phone, avoiding eye contact with the ghost in front of her, “that is correct.”

“You’re… you’re still talking to me, right?” the boy questioned unsurely.

“Yes, I am,” Lena responded, still pretending to talk on the phone, as she started walking out of the busy office and into the corridors on the floor.

“Am… am I supposed to follow you, or…?”

“Yes,” Lena said, still walking through the parts of the floor she wasn’t quite familiar with and trying to find a secluded space. “As soon as we establish a location, we can commence our discussions,” Lena said in her professional voice, cordially nodding to a passing employee. While still looking around for a place to talk to the kid, James Olsen suddenly ran past them with a panicked expression on his face, holding a handwritten sign that said ‘Elevator out of order’.

She wondered what that was about…

The quest for an isolated place was resolved just beyond a storage room at the end of a tiny hallway, in front of a bland door where it appeared no one needed to be. Lena tried the handle, thankfully finding it unlocked, and stepped inside what appeared to be an abandoned office. It was a strange room, because on top of two desks in the corner stood a few dusty, but advanced looking computers, while in the middle of the room there was a blank whiteboard. There were also a few chairs stacked on top of each other in the corner. So much for efficient usage of office space.

“Okay,” Lena breathed out as she finally lowered her phone and turned to the boy, “I will help you, of course,” she assured him, “but first I’ll need to know some details.”

“Oh… yeah, okay. I’m Jay Lasseter, I’m 16 years old and I go to National City High-”

“No, no,” Lena motioned for him to stop, “I need to know about Roulette. I know she’s been using the people that died in that building to do things for her and I need to know everything she asked you to do, and anything else that might tell me what she’s up to.”

“Um…” Jay shifted nervously on his feet, “…she was actually pretty insistent that we didn’t tell you anything…”

“She doesn’t have to know,” Lena reassured him, despite her sense of exasperation, “and I will help you anyway, so please, anything you can tell me would be helpful.”

The ghostly teenager cleared his throat as he moved his hands to his pockets. “Well… okay…” he started hesitantly, “but I’m not sure how much this will help. I mean… I just followed a few people.”

“What people?” Lena asked intently. “Who were they? What-”

“I’m sorry, I- I really don’t know,” Jay stammered. “She just showed me the person that I had to follow and told me to tell her every last detail of their day when they went to sleep. And after a week or so, she suddenly showed up and told me to stop, only to show me someone else I needed to follow.”

Lena frowned at the story, as the gears in her head were turning. “Did these people do anything unusual? Did they have something in common?”

“I… don’t think so?” Jay shrugged. “The first guy worked at a bank and spent most nights watching TV, and the second one was a girl who was a waitress and who went to the same bar most of the time. And then… when I kind of lost track of her for a while, Roulette was really angry and told me that she would use someone capable, and that I’d better go and see you if I was really that useless.” The boy drooped his head as he sheepishly looked at the floor.

“I need their names,” Lena stated decisively, moving to the desks with the dusty computers and opening a drawer to find pen and paper.

“Oh… um…” the boy frowned, apparently trying to remember, “the guy was Daniel Potts, and… the girl was Meryl Evans.”

Lena nodded with her brow furrowed in concentration, because now she had some semblance of a trail to follow. As she finished writing the names down on the small pad she’d found, she noticed Jay standing with his hands deep in his pockets while sporting that same unsure expression and Lena suddenly thought of something. “Jay… if you don’t mind me asking… what were you doing in that building?”

The kid sighed as he avoided Lena’s eyes. “It’s kind of… stupid.” Lena kept looking at him with raised eyebrows until he finally elaborated: “I was at this party… you know, one of those ‘summer vacation is almost over’ parties. It was at  Ronnie Maverick’s house and I heard him bragging to his friends that he knew where some alien fight club would be, because he’d apparently heard his dad saying that he’d been invited but didn’t want to go, or something like that. So…” Jay nervously shifted on his feet, “…I kind of sneaked upstairs and found the address.” He nervously cleared his throat. “But when I went to look for the place the next day, Ronnie was there too,” Jay continued. “He was pretty angry, but I convinced him to not beat me up by pointing out that I could help him get into the building. We were crawling through the air ducts when… well…” he seemed to go bleak for a moment, “…everything exploded. Why… why are you writing that down?”

Lena didn’t look up as she kept scribbling on the small pad that she’d found. “Because Ronnie's parents, and yours too by the way, might be interested to know what happened to their kids,” she explained. “I have a friend at the police department, she’ll match yours and Ronnie’s DNA to the remains in the building so your parents will know that…” Lena paused, thinking of a delicate way to put it, but realised that there wasn’t one, “…that you’re dead.”  
  
“Oh… yeah, that makes sense.” Jay sighed as he shook his head. “I knew it was a stupid idea. It probably wouldn't have worked either…”

Lena frowned at that. “What were you trying to 'make work' exactly?”

“It's just… I thought maybe knowing where an alien fight club is, might… I don't know, make me look cool?”

Lena’s eyebrows shot up, barely containing her surprise, as she crossed her arms and gave him an incredulous look. “That was your objective?” she asked, trying her hardest to not sound too condescending. “To get some high school kids to think that you were cool?”

“Not… not kids…” Jay muttered defensively, “just… just one of them…”

“One of them?” Lena insisted, not sure how that justified his actions.

“Yeah, just… just Evangeline Naito…”

Lena’s expression softened, as the stupidity of the boy’s actions suddenly made sense. She sighed as she moved to the side and uncrossed her arms, instead clasping her hands together in front of her as she leaned against one of the two desks. “So it's about a girl?” she questioned, this time more gently.

“I told you it was stupid,” Jay muttered, as a redness on his neck seemed to reach for his ears. “I just thought that maybe she would see me differently. It just... was never really a possibility... I mean...” he sighed very deeply and took his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms, “sometimes you just _know_ that you're not good enough.” He huffed out a breath. “I wouldn't expect you to understand…”

“No, I…” Lena swallowed, as bright smiles, colourful sweaters and honest blue eyes flashed through her mind, “I understand perfectly.” She cleared her throat as she crossed her arms again. “But I have to say… an alien fight club would only impress a certain kind of people. And in my experience they're not very pleasant company.”

Jay just shrugged as he apparently had lost the ability to make eye contact. “I just thought it was better than sending her that letter…”

Great. Five minutes in, and she was already feeling for the kid. Lena felt her cool demeanour crumble as she uncrossed her arms. “You wrote her a letter?”

“Yes…” the boy swallowed as he scratched his neck, “I wrote it about a month before I died and… I think that's what I want to do now.” He actually made eye contact again and seemed more determined than he’d been up to this point. “I don't really have anything to lose anymore, right?” He shrugged. “I don't have to actually look her in the face while she tells me she's not interested. So I want to send her that letter now.” He swallowed as he seemed to turn uncertain again. “Um… please?” he added.

Lena sighed as she should probably thank her luck that she was getting served such a benevolent mission. There had definitely been ghosts with far more complicated requests, but there was still one major problem. “I suppose this letter is in your room?” she asked, already foreseeing the answer.

“Um… yes. Is that… a problem?”

Lena sighed as the gears in her head started turning. Breaking into someone’s house was a line she’d never been eager to cross and the one time she’d actually been stupid enough to try it, she’d gotten caught. As Lena thought this particular case over, however, she realised that the situation was different. Not only because it was highly unlikely that this ghost lived across the hall from a police officer again, but also because unlike last time… she wasn’t on her own.

Lena sighed as she took out her phone and pressed Winn’s number.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Ugh… are we there yet?”

Lena sighed at Winn’s melodramatic tone, before turning to Jay with a questioning look and he informed her that it was just a few more blocks, which she relayed to the groaning man on her other side.

“I thought you had a driver,” Winn continued to complain as they walked through the eastern perimeter of National City, navigating the line between the inner city and the greener residential areas. “Why did we have to walk all the way out here?” The man let out another dramatic sigh and Lena rolled her eyes.

“First of all, it’s really not that far, Winn,” she reprimanded her overly dramatic sidekick. “Secondly, _you’re_ not the one who’s wearing heels. And thirdly; I do have a driver but he’s been pretty unreliable the past few weeks; he keeps showing up late. And quite frankly I didn’t have the patience to keep waiting for him today.”

Winn kept muttering under his breath the rest of the way, with Trevor’s name dropping quite a few times in less-than-friendly context, before they finally arrived at their destination. “Well… that’s my place,” Jay motioned to the row house in front of them. “Or _was_ my place, I guess.”

“Alright…” Lena carefully looked to the sides of the street, checking that there was truly no one nearby, before crossing the road with her two associates and stopping in front of the door, “…you’re sure this will work?” she questioned, as Winn took out a curious-looking piece of technology he took from the DEO and attached it to the lock.

“Of course! This device generates a condensed blast of energy, which I can regulate to be just strong enough to flick the lock without doing any damage, or making too much noise. Apparently it belonged to a bunch of Solturian thieves.” He glanced over at Lena, who didn’t feel all that reassured. “There’s really no need to worry. I mean,” Winn stuck out his chest as if to highlight the plastic badge pinned on his shirt, while giving her a cheeky grin, “when has your trusted PALL ever failed you?”

“Well, there was that one time you were supposed to help me with Maggie’s father…”

“That’s not fair! I got arrested!”

“He…” Lena looked to her side, where Jay was looking slightly unnerved, “…he got arrested?” the boy asked suspiciously.

“It was just a misunderstanding,” Lena reassured him, while the boy kept looking at her with raised eyebrows. “His girlfriend-”

The three of them suddenly jumped up in surprise at the sound coming from the device on the door, as the thunderous bang that it produced rang through the peaceful atmosphere of the neighbourhood like a gunshot. “You said it wouldn’t make any noise!!” Lena hissed, as she frantically looked back and forth between the adjacent houses.

“I… I must have miscalculated…”

“Just get inside!!” Lena hissed, nervously pushing the door open, while Jay followed and Winn quickly removed the device from the lock. Lena huffed out a nervous breath once the door closed behind them, because Lena Luthor being caught breaking and entering during her lunch break was not a headline she was looking forward to. As Winn kept examining the device and muttering that it didn’t make any sense, Lena looked at the wall in the narrow hallway, which displayed a long line of pictures showing Jay in different stages of growing up. Some of them also included his parents.

“Yeah… my mom’s kind of sentimental,” Jay commented as he noticed Lena looking at the pictures. “I don’t think she’s actually gone into my room since I disappeared.”

“And your dad?” Lena questioned, glancing at the ghost beside her.

“He’s less sentimental,” Jay chuckled. “He turned my room upside down, trying to look for clues on where I went. Their current theory is that I ran away from home for some reason. Thankfully he didn’t find the letter, though.” He sighed as he looked at the pictures of his family, and Lena looked between him and a particular one he was staring at. “He’s pretty obsessed with antiques and history and stuff like that,” Jay laughed as he pointed at the picture he was looking at, which showed a blond ten-year-old and his parents in a museum. “His favourite story is about this one street in the city that is apparently named after my great-great-grandfather, who-”

“Shouldn’t we get started?” Winn suddenly questioned, having completely missed the conversation going on in front of him. Lena huffed out an annoyed breath, giving the man a chastising look and preparing to give him a thorough lecture, but Jay shook his head and moved to the stairs.

“He’s right… my room’s this way.”

“What?” Winn looked confused at Lena’s annoyed expression. “What did I do?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” she grumbled, before following Jay up the stairs as Winn hurried after her.

Reaching the top, Lena opened the door Jay had just stepped straight through and entered the boy’s room. She noticed the desk in front of the window which was mostly empty, safe for an old iPod attached to a small speaker. There was a bookcase in the corner and a guitar leaning against the bed, which apparently caught Winn’s eye as he immediately walked over and started examining it, seemingly nodding his approval.

“It’s very… tidy,” Lena commented.

“Yeah…” Jay drawled, as he looked around, “you can thank my dad for that. It was a lot less organised when I was actually… you know, here.” He walked over to his bookcase and pointed at one of the covers. “The letter’s in here, Ms. Luthor.” Lena walked over and raised her eyebrows in surprise as she took out a copy of _Dusklight: Tale of the sparkling Zombies._

“Yeah,” Jay chuckled at Lena’s expression, “I had to put it in the one book that was too boring for even my dad to read.” She gave a thin smile, trying to mask the fact that she found the title pretty interesting, and flipped through the pages until she found an unsealed envelope in the middle. As she took it out and put the book back in its place, Winn suddenly stepped up beside her.

“So what does it say?” he asked, sounding excited.

“Dude!” Jay looked completely scandalised. “Ever heard of privacy?”

“Yeah, Winn,” Lena agreed, giving him a stern look, “don’t be nosy.”

“Pfft… nosy… I’m just naturally curious.”

Lena shook her head at him, before examining the unsealed envelope and finding it completely blank. “There’s no post stamp,” she remarked, checking all the sides again.

“Well, no…” Jay responded, “the idea was to give it to her in person. Which is probably why I didn’t do it…” he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking uneasy. “I have some stamps in there, though,” he nodded towards his desk and Lena walked over to open the drawer.

“Why do we need a stamp?” Winn questioned as he trailed after her. “Aren’t we just gonna drop it off at Evangeline’s house?”

“We are,” Lena said, as she took out the packet of stamps from the drawer, “but if it shows up there without a stamp and Evangeline tells Jay’s parents about it, they might think he dropped it off himself. Which is just cruel, since they’re going to find out he’s dead in few days.” She detached one of the stamps from the packet and put it on the envelope, before taking out a pen from the drawer and asking Jay for the address, which she started writing on the envelope. “By giving it a stamp but dropping it off in person, we make them believe it went through the mailing process. But if they’d try to check, they wouldn’t be able to track where it came from.”

“Huh…” Winn frowned at her, “you really think these things through, don’t you?”

“Well,” she smirked, “the Luthor genes come in handy sometimes.”

“Actually, I just meant that I can’t even remember the last time I sent a let-”

“Did you guys hear that?”

Lena turned to Jay in confusion, as the boy was looking at his door with a concerned frown. “Hear what?” Lena questioned, not having picked up on anything. Jay kept frowning at the door and Lena was about to tell him that he was imaging things, when one of the stairs suddenly creaked very loudly. Lena’s insides froze and she tried her best not to panic, because clearly Winn had that covered.

“Someone’s here!” he hissed, frantically looking between the door and Lena. He proceeded to scan the room with panic in his eyes, apparently looking for somewhere to hide, while Lena was scrambling for a solution. “We gotta bolt!” Winn proclaimed in the same hushed tone, before actually climbing on top of the desk and trying to open the window.

“Are you insane?!” Lena hissed, grabbing him by his pants before he jumped out of a goddamn window. “You’re going to break your legs!! Jay,” she turned to the boy while still holding on to a squirming Winn, “go see who’s there!!” The boy nodded in return, but just as he was headed for the door and just as Lena tried to get Winn down from the window pane (while praying that the closet in the corner would be big enough to hold both of them) the door to the room suddenly swung open.

“FREEZE!”

Lena and Winn both instinctively obliged, swivelling their heads towards the door where Jay was facing the intruder. Because the boy was obscuring her view, Lena couldn’t immediately see who had barged in, but it became pretty clear when she suddenly spoke up.

“You guys have _got_ to be kidding me!”

Lena released the breath she’d been holding, as Jay stepped to the side to reveal Maggie Sawyer, who lowered her gun and rolled her eyes as she gave them an incredulous look.

“Luthor, I think it's safe to say you have _zero_ talent as a burglar!”

Lena huffed out a breath, her heart still pounding from the adrenaline as she tried to steady herself. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Geez, Maggie, you almost gave us a heart attack!!” Winn sounded highly offended as he dramatically clutched his chest and sunk down to sit on the window pane; his feet resting on the desk. “What are you doing here?!”

“What does it look like I'm doing?!” Maggie said, sounding intensely aggravated as she put her gun away, “I'm responding to a call from the neighbours, who heard a strange noise in a house that's supposed to be empty!” She shook her head as she put her hands on her hips. “You two should be grateful I was nearby. I don't think you'd have enjoyed explaining this situation to McConnell.”

Lena huffed out a nervous laugh as the woman definitely had a point there. She’d only met detective Frank McConnell once, but it sure hadn’t been a pleasant visit. He’d dropped by unannounced at L-Corp a few days ago and had bluntly informed her that she was expected at the police station this coming Friday to answer a few questions regarding her potential involvement with Cadmus during their attack with those floating killing machines. The man hadn’t been very subtle about his suspicions towards the youngest Luthor, so Lena could agree that being caught by him while breaking in to a random house would have definitely been an awkward experience.

“I’m assuming there’s a ghost involved?” Maggie asked, still sounding less than pleased with  the situation. “Because if there isn’t, I think I might arrest you two anyway.” She gave the two intruders an annoyed look, as Lena hurried to explain.

“Yes… yes, it’s a ghost.” She motioned to her side, at the aforementioned spectre. “Jay Lasseter, my friend Maggie Sawyer. Maggie, meet Jay.”

Maggie gave an annoyed wave in his general direction, while the boy just huffed out a relieved breath. “Exactly… how many people are on your ghostbusters team?” he asked Lena with a chuckle.

“Just the three of us and one more,” Lena explained. Although James probably wasn’t going to help her with anything anytime soon, she thought to herself. Considering how they’d been butting heads all day at CatCo…

“Well,” Winn chuckled as he finally climbed down from the window pane, using the desk to get to the floor, “now that the gang’s complete we should- oh!” he quickly retracted his hand from the desk, which had apparently landed on the old iPod that was attached to the small speaker. “What-”

Jay inhaled sharply when a guitar suddenly sounded through the speakers. “Turn that off! Ms. Luthor, tell him to turn that off!” Lena turned to Winn, but she was stunned into silence when Jay’s voice suddenly came through the speakers.

_“Look how she brightens the sky,”_

“Dude, turn it off!” Jay pleaded, while the redness on his neck reached for his ears.

_“Ma belle, Evangeline,”_

“Winn, turn it off,” Lena commanded, as the boy now groaned loudly into his hands in embarrassment.

_“So far above me, yet I…”_

“Why? This is pretty good,” Winn commented, but Lena took pity on the boy and stepped towards the desk.

_“…know her heart belongs-”_

Lena pressed the stop button, abruptly cutting off Jay’s singing, before turning around and seeing Winn glance curiously between the guitar next to the bed and the device on the desk. “Wait…” he drawled, a wide grin forming on his face, “that was him, wasn’t it?” He let out an incredulous laugh, looking impressed if nothing else, but Jay clearly couldn’t appreciate it, as he was still looking away with flaming red ears.

“So… is someone gonna tell me what we’re supposed to be doing here?” Maggie suddenly questioned.

Lena cleared her throat as she directed her attention away from the awkward situation. “We needed to get something,” she held up the unsealed envelope, “and now we need to drop it off somewhere else. Do you…” she gave the detective an uncertain look, “…do you think you could drive us?”

Maggie let out a long sigh, darting her eyes between the two people she could see with an annoyed expression, but eventually she relented; “Fine,” Maggie huffed, “but first I need to go and lie to the neighbours,” she gave Lena an accusatory look. “You two get out through the back, I’ll drive around the block and pick you up on the other side.” Maggie walked out the room, probably missing Lena’s thanks, as she trotted down the stairs while loudly complaining about amateur criminals. Lena went to move to the door as well, before noticing that Winn was still standing there with a wide grin while looking around the room.

“Sooo… Evangeline, huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows in no particular direction, while Jay shoved his hands deep in his pockets and marched past Lena and out of the room, his ears still completely red.

They didn’t have to wait long once they’d stepped out the back door and onto the curb on the other side of the block. Maggie’s  patrol car pulled up and the three of them promptly got in, Winn loudly yelling ‘shotgun!’ as he did so (which earned him an elbow to the ribs from Maggie), while Lena and Jay got in the back, the boy stepping straight through the closed door. As they drove towards their destination, Lena tried to explain the specifics to Maggie as briefly as she could, noticing it was obviously making Jay very uncomfortable to have his problems being repeatedly laid out in front of everybody. As Lena finished explaining, however, she suddenly remembered something.

“Here,” she took out the small piece of paper with four names on it and handed it to Maggie.

“What’s this?” the detective asked, briefly glancing towards the back through her mirror before refocusing on the road.

“Jay and Ronnie died in that explosion at the alien fight club. You can confirm their deaths now,” Lena explained. “Daniel Potts and Meryl Evans are people that Jay followed under Roulette’s instructions. If you could find out as much as you can about them, we might get closer to figuring out what she’s trying to do. But be careful,” Lena warned her, “if Roulette is still having them followed, she might get suspicious if they’re suddenly questioned by the police.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Maggie put the piece of paper in her pocket, “unlike some people, I actually know how to run a covert operation.” She shot a dimpled grin through the rear view mirror and Lena huffed in mock offence, mostly glad that Maggie had apparently gotten over her aggravation. As the car turned into the street where Evangeline lived, Maggie opted to drive past her house, instead stopping the car around a corner a little further down the road. The detective sighed as she turned off the engine, before throwing a glance at her side mirrors, where she could see the main street. “Okay,” Maggie started, reaching towards the back and taking the unsealed envelope from Lena, “so I'll just drop off the letter and-”

“Whoa, whoa,” Winn protested, trying to snatch the envelope out of Maggie’s hands, but she was too fast. “I'm dropping off the letter!”

“It's safer if I do it,” Maggie argued, still holding the envelope out of his reach.

“Why?!”

“Because I don't panic when something goes wrong.”

“Hey! I don't panic! Besides, I outrank you!”

Maggie scoffed loudly. “You don’t have a rank.”

“Yes, I do!”

“No, you don’t.”

“Read the badge, lady!!”

“Guys!” Lena interrupted their argument, wondering how they’d reverted to bickering children so fast. “I'm sorry Winn, but Maggie's handling this one.” Winn promptly crossed his arms and started moping, while Maggie looked a little too smug as she opened the door.

“Wait, wait,” Jay suddenly exclaimed, causing Lena to turn to the protesting boy with surprise as she motioned Maggie to stop, “maybe this isn’t such a good idea…”

Lena let out a measured sigh as she rubbed her temple, because wouldn’t you know it, now she had a headache. “You’re backing out _after_ we robbed your house?” she asked incredulously.

“He’s chickening out?” Winn turned around in his seat, apparently forgetting that he was supposed to be moping, as he shook his head. “That’s lame, kid.”

Lena threw the unhelpful sidekick a warning glare, before scrambling to find the appropriate response to this situation. “Look… Jay…” she opened and closed her mouth a few times, before she figured out what to say to the kid who was now slumped in his seat while fiddling with his hoody, “it’s… it’s just a letter,” she tried to reason. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Your dad could kick you out and ignore you for fifteen years,” Maggie commented dryly. Lena threw a foul look in her direction for being equally unhelpful, but the detective just shrugged back. “What? I’m just stating the facts.”

Lena let out a long sigh as she turned back to the unsure kid. “Look, Jay… you said it yourself, didn’t you? You said you have nothing to lose at this point. So… what’s the problem?”

“It’s just…” Jay swallowed as he scratched his neck and avoided eye contact, “…at least now she remembers me as the friendly guy that sits behind her in history class and who she talks to in the hallway now and then. What if… she thinks I’m weird after this?” He swallowed harshly as he listlessly kicked at the floor of the car, his foot going straight through without making contact. “I know that I’m dead and it’s not supposed to make a difference or whatever, but…” he finally looked up, looking lost again, just not geographically this time, “…what if she remembers me differently? That’s all that’s gonna be left of me, right? What people remember of me?” He shrugged at Lena, who finally understood his hesitation. “I just… don’t want her to think of me as the weirdo that writes sappy letters.”

Lena sighed deeply as she thought that he was probably right. When you died, all that was left of you were the memories other people had of you. Lena had to admit that she had thought about all of that even before she’d started helping ghosts. Because when you’re a regular target for assassination attempts you start thinking about these things. And she remembered being scared. Being scared that she would die before being able to dig the Luthor name out of its pitiful state. Being scared that she would be remembered as just another crazy Luthor. But Lena felt the urge to protest the boy’s reasoning anyway. And not just because the situation was entirely different, or because it would be inconvenient for her to abort this mission. But mostly… because she really wanted Jay to know this wasn’t useless.

“Look, Jay…” she sighed as she turned in her seat to face the kid, “I can’t promise you she won’t remember you differently. I don’t know her, so I can’t tell you how she’ll react, but… you shouldn’t be ashamed, you know? You don’t have to be embarrassed that you have feelings for someone.” Lena ignored the loud snort coming from Maggie as she kept giving Jay an intent look, who still appeared to be uncertain. “And after all… you _did_ write all those feelings down, right? That was all you. So… if she remembers you as the guy who wrote that letter… won't she remember you the way you really are?” Lena kept looking at him, as the boy seemed to think the words over, briefly turning around to look out the back window and towards the main street. “So, what do you say?” Lena asked as carefully as she could. “Let's tell her?”

Lena looked on as the boy gave a long sigh while still looking towards the main street. Eventually he turned back towards Lena, and with a more determined expression, he nodded his head. “Okay,” he said softly.

“Okay,” Lena smiled at him, before nodding towards Maggie.

“Cool story, Luthor,” the detective said in an amused tone as she started getting out of the car, “maybe you should take your own advice.” She shot Lena one last mischievous grin before closing the door, then walked away towards the main street while Jay hurried after her, apparently wanting to witness his letter being dropped off in person.

“She's not wrong, you know,” Winn suddenly remarked, causing Lena to turn away from the two figures headed for the main street and frown in the man’s direction. “There's no reason you shouldn't tell Kara.”

Lena scoffed, because there were at least a million and one reasons. “How about the fact that I'm supposed to be her friend?” she retorted bitterly. “And even without that, the fact that I’m still a Luthor. Not to mention… you know…” she swallowed, still having trouble articulating this particular development in her life, “a- a… a woman,” she forced out nervously. Winn, however, just laughed at her.

“You're still hung up on that?” he asked incredulously. “Don't you know what they say?” He gave her a broad grin. “ _If at the eeend youuuu want them to cheer, keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gaaaay!”_

Lena’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of the man suddenly bursting out into song. “Oh god, not you too.”

“Yep! Kara recruited me to help ensure you'll start appreciating the awesomeness of musicals!” He gave her one of his cheesy grins, while Lena groaned loudly and shook her head. “But seriously, though,” Winn turned in his seat to face her better as his smile faded, “did I… did I ever mention that I kissed Kara once?”

“Wh- wha- what?” Lena stammered, feeling her brain break a little.

“Yeah, it was… almost two years ago, now. I mean, she wasn’t interested and… it was a little weird there for a while… but we’re still buddies, obviously…” he chuckled briefly. “But you know… whatever you tell her,” he said carefully, “she won’t just go and stop being your friend. Just sayin’…”

Lena swallowed and looked to the side, feeling highly uncomfortable with the current conversation. “I- I really…” she stammered, “it’s really not the same…”

“Are you sure? Because to me, it looks like it’s exactly the same.”

“It’s not,” Lena said decisively, looking back at the man, “and besides… I might take risks on other fronts, but… if there’s one thing I won’t risk losing, it’s Kara.”

“You know,” Winn started with a small grin, “a wise person once said that you can’t live in fear.”

“It’s- it’s not fear…” Lena responded, averting her eyes again, “it’s knowing what you’re worth. The fact that Kara considers me a close friend is already a small miracle.” She huffed out a humourless laugh. “So- to- to go and- suggest that… that I might… want- want more…” she shook her head, looking out the window, “it’s just… it’s not…”

“Well, okay, but…” Winn interrupted her, regaining Lena’s attention, “…what about the ghost thing, then? I mean… there’s no reason to still be keeping _that_ a secret, is there?”

Lena shook her head aggressively, because that was a whole other problem. A very scary problem. Because assuming Kara wouldn’t hate her, assuming she would forgive her for keeping such a secret. Assuming she wouldn’t hold her reaction to the woman being Supergirl against her after finding out she’d had a giant secret of her own all this time, there was still one huge problem. The problem, that if Kara knew… if she knew that Lena could see dead people… if she knew that… then she’d know that the events of that day were real. Then she’d know that Lena begging her to stay with a gun pointed at her temple was real. And while Jay might have been scared of how Evangeline remembered him after leaving that letter, Lena would actually have to see it. She would have to be there to see the look in Kara’s eyes after finding out the truth. And quite frankly… Lena didn’t want to see it. Ever. So yes, when it came to her feelings for the woman, she just knew that it would be ridiculous to expect something more than the small miracle she’d already gotten by being the woman’s friend. But when it came to the ghost thing… it was just pure fear.

As she struggled to articulate even just a little of that, she suddenly paused when she noticed something in the car's right mirror. Jay had stepped into view on the main street, and as he turned around to look back at Evangeline's house… he started emitting light. He was too far away for Lena to see his face, but he seemed to let out a huge breath, his whole figure relaxing as if the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders. Lena smiled weakly as she watched the light slowly but surely move over his body, eventually enveloping him completely. As the light started pulling away and forming those floating orbs, Maggie appeared from behind the corner and walked straight through the morphing light, emerging on the other side with her hands deep in her pockets. Lena kept watching through the car’s mirror as the lights stayed still for a while, before they started fading. Only when they were completely gone, and when she was startled by the sound of the car door slamming shut, did Lena look away while letting out a long sigh.

 

Jay Lasseter had just passed on.

 

Meanwhile, right in front of her, Winn was leaning to the side while squinting his eyes at Maggie, who was being suspiciously quiet. “Are you crying?!” he exclaimed incredulously.

“No… I just…” the detective mumbled in a very nasal voice, “…I have something in my eye…”

“Oh my god!!” Winn laughed loudly as he slapped his knee in delight. “You totally read the letter, didn’t you?!”

“Shut up…”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“I would really like to give you a hug, but I’m afraid I’d show favouritism.”

“Uh, screw that. Come here!”

Lena smiled widely as she got wrapped up in Kara’s arms, that familiar feeling of safety invading her, glowing in her chest and spreading to her extremities. And she maybe felt a little proud of herself for coyly figuring out whether Kara minded being hugged at the office. And the warm glow spreading through her body maybe burned even warmer than usual at the thought that she could be doing this every day. Lena cleared her throat and forced her wandering mind back to planet earth, carefully stepping out of Kara’s embrace before she’d become lost in fruitless and inappropriate fantasies about tasting Kara’s lips again. _Don’t be a bad friend, Lena!_

“I don’t get it, though,” Lena said as she looked Kara over with slight concern. “Why didn’t you just tell me that you were still worried about Mon-el?” She swallowed, forcing the ugly beast of jealousy far beneath the surface of her consciousness where it belonged. Where all things that had no right to exist belonged. Like the unwillingness to talk about your best friend’s former (maybe still current?) romantic interest. Like the urge to kiss said best friend. _Your friend, Lena! Your friend!_

“I just…” Kara huffed out a breath, “I didn’t want you to start blaming yourself again. Because I don’t. And neither does the rest of the planet, which you very heroically saved. Twice.” The woman took Lena’s hands in her own, and Lena felt herself melt at the touch, combined with the tender look she was receiving right now. “And besides… it’s not just that. I had to fight this bank robber who calls herself Psi today.” Kara shook her head as she adjusted her glasses, and Lena felt highly embarrassed that such a simple gesture could evoke such inordinate amounts of affection. “She made people see their fears. Their worst nightmares… I had to… watch Krypton burn all over again…”

Lena’s stomach dropped, her heart hurting for the alien woman. “Oh, Kara…”

“It’s fine,” Kara smiled sadly, as she waved her hand. “I learned to control it. I learned that… it’s just a mind over matter thing. That I can’t keep dwelling on what could have gone differently with Krypton, or what may or may not have happened to Mon-el. Or who else I might lose…” she shook her head, seemingly willing certain thoughts away. “So, yeah. I’m good now.” Her smile finally reached her eyes, as she beamed at Lena in classic Kara Danvers fashion while the young CEO’s heart did backflips as she smiled back. “But anyway,” Kara sighed contently, “what are you doing tonight?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Lena said before the question had even been completed. Kara laughed at that. And if anyone asked, Lena would insist that her lightning-quick response had just been a way to elicit that laugh from her friend. And had nothing to do with her desperate urge to be next to Kara as often as possible. Nope. Nothing to do with that at all.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Kara smiled. “Now I can proceed with my evil plan.”

Lena quirked an eyebrow at her, noticing the woman’s odd expression. “I think you’re confused, Kara,” she responded amused. “I’m the Luthor around here, so that should be my line.”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Kara frowned, like she always did when Lena attempted a joke of the I’m-a-Luthor kind. “I meant that you can come over and watch a movie. One where people could possibly, maybe, sometimes express their feelings in other ways besides talking,” Kara said while innocently tilting her head. And Lena suddenly had a thought. But she really shouldn’t. The joke was right there, staring her in the face, but she really shouldn’t. I mean, it was a little much, wasn’t it? Kara would definitely blush… and stammer… hm…

What the hell.

“Oh, my, Kara,” Lena smirked as she brought a hand to her chest, trying to act scandalised, but unable to help the teasing tone of her voice. “You really want to watch adult films with me?”

“Adult… fi…?”

Oh yes, it was totally worth it. Lena could see the exact moment it clicked; when Kara’s confused face suddenly seemed to freeze in shock and revealed the brightest blush she’d ever witnessed appearing on Kara’s cheeks, as the woman stammered and coughed and spluttered, and just about anything else that was not coherently form words. Lena was unable to help her laughter, as she loudly cackled at the woman before she even managed to speak again.

“Musicals!! I meant musicals!!” Kara managed to sputter in protest. Lena was just laughing her ass off at this point, not even caring that she was in the middle of her new workplace and that she was supposed to be projecting an air of cool detachment. Because how could anyone remain impassive, when Kara Danvers was being such an adorable dork? “Hey, don’t make fun of me,” Kara grumbled, apparently realising she was being messed with, as she crossed her arms and her signature crinkle appeared on her forehead.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” Lena huffed, still trying to control her laughing fit. “But you just make it so easy sometimes,” she grinned. Kara just let out a humming sound, still with her arms crossed, but Lena could see the corners of her lips twitching. She managed to get her diaphragm under control, and gave the woman a fond look. “So you’re still on this doomed crusade to make me like musicals?” she questioned amused.

“Yes!” Kara responded fiercely. “And I shall succeed! I can be Super persuasive, didn’t you know?” Lena fondly rolled her eyes at the poor excuse for a pun. “You’ll see, Lena, you’re gonna become a true fan. I’ll make sure to convert you!”

Lena managed to contain her surprised snort to a small huff, since there was another very obvious joke there, but there was no way in hell she was going to make that one. Because apart from being inappropriate, it also hit a little too close to home. “Well… you’re welcome to try,” Lena managed to say in a semi-serious tone. Because even though movies where people suddenly burst out singing would most definitely always look stupid to her, any excuse to spend more time with Kara was a good one. And she’d be damned if she was going to pass it up. “I’ll, um… I’ll meet you at your apartment, I just have to swing by L-Corp real quick.”

Kara just smiled her bright smile in response, gave her another one of her warm hugs, and then she was telling her she’d see her in a bit, as she started collecting her things while Lena turned to the elevator.

All the way down to the ground floor and all the way to L-Corp, Lena kept smiling to herself. She smiled because their tension hadn’t lasted, because Kara had opened up to her and told her what was really going on. She smiled, because she could look forward to an entire evening with her best friend, possibly huddled together very closely on her couch. Her best friend who turned as red as a tomato at hearing adult jokes, her best friend who had already converted her. ( _No, Lena! Still inappropriate!)_

As she finally entered her building however, her smile faded, because the task she’d assigned herself five minutes ago was not something she was entirely happy about. However, she knew that that sentiment came from a place of selfishness so she squashed it down. If she could lighten Kara’s burden just a little. If she could take away that tiny piece of doubt, then it would be worth it. She aggressively pushed the door open to her first floor lab.

“Dr. Benson!”

The head of her R&D department flinched in surprise, narrowly avoiding the test tube in his hands from dropping to the floor. He clutched the container filled with liquid tightly to his chest and sighed with relief. “Ms. Luthor, I believe I’ve asked you several times not to barge in like th-”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry,” Lena hastily interrupted, almost able to hear Kara’s couch calling her name in the distance. “Do you remember the portal technology we worked on earlier this year?”

Dr. Benson stilled and frowned very deeply. “Yes…”

“We’re restarting that project. Please see to all the preparations first thing tomorrow morning.” Lena went to leave, but the head of her R&D stopped her.

“Wait, wait! You mean… the technology that brought an alien army to earth and almost ended up causing our planet to be conquered?!”

“Oh, good so you do remember.”

“But…” the man seemed at a loss for words, “…that’s… that’s just way too dangerous… and you said yourself we missed an element…”

“We’ll take extra precautions,” Lena reassured him. “But we have to make it work. We _have_ to.”

Without offering any further explanation, she left her lab and her flabbergasted employee behind, as she headed back for the ground floor. And maybe she didn’t feel great about this, but it had to be done. If Kara was going to sleep easier this way, was going to get some peace of mind out of it, then Lena would move heaven and earth to make it happen. She would make sure Kara wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore. She would make sure Kara had no more nightmares. If it would help Kara, she was going to do it, as much as her selfish gut twisted with disapproval.

 

She would make sure Kara got to see Mon-el again.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

_Two weeks earlier: August 28 th 2017_

 

Kara flinched as she stepped out of Lena’s arms, completely taken off guard by Jess suddenly appearing beside them and giving them a weird look. She awkwardly stood there as Jess handed Lena some important file about CatCo, looking at the floor while already missing her best friend’s hug. She unceremoniously fiddled with her cape realising how badly she had missed Lena these past few weeks. Like, really bad…

“Could I have a word with you? In private?”

“You can talk freely, Jess,” Lena said with confusion in her voice, “I have nothing to hide fr-”

“No, no, I meant… could I have a word with Supergirl?”

Kara looked up in surprise, noticing that Jess was staring right at her. “Oh… well… sure, I guess…” she shrugged in Lena’s direction as she followed Jess towards the door, throwing one last confused look over her shoulder before closing the doors to Lena’s office behind her.

With the way Lena always spoke of her, she didn’t think that Jess would feel the need to hide anything from her boss, but Kara of all people knew that things were complicated sometimes, so she stopped by the woman’s desk and waited for her to speak. They stood there for a while, Kara in her Supergirl pose and Jess with her arms crossed, as she seemed to scan the superhero from top to bottom. Kara was starting to feel weirded out by the extended silence, when Jess suddenly spoke up.

“Back off.”

Kara blinked in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Jess repeated, giving her a less-than-friendly look, “you need to back the hell off.”

Kara frowned at the sudden hostility. “I don’t understand, what-”

“Don’t play dumb! You know exactly what I mean!” Kara was now feeling completely out of her depth, because here she was; standing in her commanding pose in full Supergirl costume and yet, Jess didn’t seem at all intimidated. In fact she’d stepped forward and had actually started poking her in the chest. Kara was highly confused. “Just because Ms. Luthor is feeling vulnerable right now, that doesn’t give you the right to take advantage of her! Rough patch or not, Ms. Luthor still has a girlfriend and it’s not fair to try and weasel your way into her good graces at this point!”

“WHAT?! LENA HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!”

“Just drop the act,” Jess scoffed. “Everybody knows Kara Danvers is your go-to reporter, so don’t pretend you don’t know that she’s dating Ms. Luthor.”

Kara’s brain was officially fried, as she tried to protest this grave misunderstanding. “Wha- no- I- it’s- you don’t- friends-”

“Quite frankly I would’ve expected better from you.” Jess shook her head and gave her such a disappointed look, that it would have made Snapper proud. “I never thought that Supergirl of all people would try to steal someone’s girlfriend. But I’m warning you,” Jess stepped very close and gave her a look that no human without Kryptonite on hand had ever dared to give her, “no one makes Ms. Luthor as happy as Ms. Danvers does. So if you screw this up, you will have me to deal with, got it?” Jess looked her up and down one last time, before suddenly stepping past her and back into Lena’s office, leaving Kara a confused mess on the other side.

Wha… she… pfft… girlfriends? Where- where did she get that from?! I mean… that was… HA! They were friends! Like, really close friends. Close friends make each other happy, duh! And why was she mentally defending her friendship with Lena anyway? Who did Jess think she was? Suggesting stuff like that… I mean, if we were… you know… then we’d act like Alex and Maggie. You know, like… kissing and stuff… it was all very different! Lena was her friend! She… I mean, she wouldn’t want to… kiss Lena, or anything. I mean, she didn’t want that! She wouldn’t want to kiss Lena…

 

…right?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do we feel about the audio? Nice addition? Too much?
> 
> Jay's song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYlSc2id3Ug
> 
> Next week: Kara and Lena disagree very strongly about something, while ghostly visions become a factor again.


	4. Ronald Maverick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post Supergirl 3x04

_September 21 st 2017_

“What do you mean, you went to Mars?!”

Lena’s fork hovered in the air, as it was frozen halfway to her mouth while she gaped at Kara across the table. She briefly glanced around, as she probably shouldn’t have asked that question so loudly in a crowded restaurant, but come on! Kara couldn’t just drop information like that on her out of the blue! Kara held up her hand, signalling she would explain once she’d swallowed the gigantic bite of food in her mouth, while Lena was careful not to smudge her dress as she finally put down her fork. She was probably slightly overdressed for a friendly dinner (which was underlined by Kara’s comparatively simple outfit), but having dinner with Kara at a fancy place was no longer something Lena felt comfortable going to without one of her killer dresses in tow. Because being out of the woman’s league (and let’s not forget; gender taste), did _not_ mean she couldn’t use her imagination. As in, ‘imagine if this was an actual date’. Which is how she ended up wearing a two-thousand dollar deep red dress, while Kara sat across the table in her favourite brown pants and baby blue shirt. She knew it was pathetic, but whatever. _Just let me have this one, alright?!_

“Yeah,” Kara started, having finally forced down her truckload of food, “J’onn needed some help back home and we even brought his father back to earth. Isn’t it great?” She gave her a broad smile, and Lena just huffed out a laugh.

“And I thought _my_ life was crazy,” she commented as she returned her attention to her pasta while trying to process the concept of casual trips to distant planets.

“Ha! If you thought that was crazy, you should have seen my cult.”

Lena’s fork once again froze halfway to her mouth, as a single ravioli fell back onto her plate. “What- what do you mean, you started a cult?!”

“No, no,” Kara laughed it off as she waved dismissively, and Lena decided to put her fork down until the woman was done with her casually proclaimed absurdities. “I didn’t start it; it was run by this guy named Thomas Coville. He somehow got his hands on Kryptonian scriptures and decided that people should worship Supergirl instead of Rao. Hence the cult full of people that I saved at one point or another.” Lena frowned as Kara seemed to shudder for a moment. “It was really surreal, you know? Seeing them all there… I didn’t think I would, but… I remembered all of them.” Kara huffed out a breath, seeming very serious as she leaned her chin on her hand. “It’s kinda weird, but I guess when I save someone it’s like… I don’t know… like I can’t forget their face anymore.” She shrugged as she shook her head and returned to her food. “I guess that sounds weird,” she laughed self-consciously.

Lena closed her eyes as she bit the inside of her cheek, because she’d almost blurted it out right then and there. She’d almost just blurted out that she understood perfectly. That it made all the sense in the world. That the faces of Rafael, Jimmy and Huang Fu were all permanently burned into her memory too. That when she’d gone to sign the NDA’s at the DEO, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the picture of Rachel that was standing on Pam’s desk. That the memory of Sam’s hurt and betrayed face was the first thing on her mind when she’d learned about Snapper going on ‘sabbatical’. Instead, Lena bit her tongue and settled for a more neutral response.

“I don’t think it sounds weird,” she gave Kara a gentle smile, trying to express her understanding through her eyes instead of her words, as she reached out to hold Kara's hand on the table. She maybe stared at Kara's beautiful blue eyes a little too long, and she abruptly retracted her hand when she realised that she was getting way too deep into the whole imaginary date scenario. “But maybe stay away from religious fanatics in the future, alright?” she laughed nervously as her heart kept beating too fast. _Seriously, Lena you only held her hand, get over it!_ “Personally, I don't trust people who believe in imaginary beings in the sky.” She let out another nervous chuckle as she tried to bring food to her mouth, but the fork once again stopped after she noticed Kara's curious expression. “What?” Lena asked confused.

Kara gave her a small frown. “It's not imaginary.”

Lena's eyebrows shot up. “You… you can't be serious.” She searched Kara's eyes, but the woman frowned even deeper as she crossed her arms. “You… actually  believe that nonsense?”

“Nonsense?!” Kara exclaimed with indignation, and Lena was highly confused at this point.

“Kara, didn't you… didn't you say you were chosen for the science guild?” she asked slowly.

“Faith and science aren't mutually exclusive.”

Lena let out an incredulous laugh. “Yes, they are. Science requires proof for a concept to be accepted. And there is no way to prove that some invisible entity that controls everything, is-”

“He doesn't control everything.” Lena was stunned by the interruption as Kara seemed to be turning more serious by the second. “Rao’s light is present in all things and in all people, but he doesn't control us.” Lena tried to contain herself, but she couldn't prevent herself from snorting at this Kryptonian deity being described as if he was a form of midi-chlorians. Kara clearly couldn't appreciate her amusement. “I don't like you making fun of this,” she stated harshly as she actually shoved her plate away. Lena raised her eyebrows, because _Kara had actually distanced herself from food…_

“I'm not making fun, I just don't understand how you can- Kara?” The alien woman had suddenly stood up from her seat and after picking up her bag, she stormed off. “Kara, wait!” Lena stood up as well, but Kara was too fast, even at her human speed. Lena was left standing there in her overpriced dress, in the middle of Mancini’s Restaurant, next to a mostly untouched plate of pasta. And like had happened so often before when it came to Kara, the logical and the emotional part of her brain were at war with each other once again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Lena sighed as she walked around the CatCo office while staring at her phone.

One lonely text stared back at her, containing no emojis, no happy exclamations, or any other message that would usually make her heart flutter. Instead the very clear subliminal message was; 'I don't want to see you right now'. Although the literal one was maybe a little more professional.

**Kara:** _< Not feeling well. Taking a sick day.>_

Lena sighed as she stepped towards the elevator, because Kara was very well aware that Lena knew Kryptonians didn't get sick (unless something was terribly wrong). Which meant that she wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was avoiding her after last night's argument. To be honest, Lena had very conflicted emotions about the incident. Of course she didn't want to see Kara upset. Of course she was already getting anxious at the thought of Kara ignoring her again like she'd done during the summer. But the scientist in her felt like standing her ground. The scientist in her was frankly offended at the immediate dismissal of a completely logical argument, and did absolutely _not_ feel like rolling over and apologising. Because Kara, despite the impression she might give, was very smart. And the thought of her hanging on to a concept as stupid and illogical as religion was just so infuriating, it made her want to-

“Hey! Lena!”

The youngest Luthor was stunned when her trusted sidekick suddenly emerged from the stairwell. “Winn?” she asked confused as the man stepped up to her. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s an important issue we totally forgot to discuss,” he proclaimed. Lena frowned as she noticed his serious tone and she waited anxiously for him to elaborate. “We haven’t decided what to wear to next year’s Comic Con yet!”

Lena sighed in exasperation as she headed down the stairs, instead of waiting on the elevator. “I'm not playing dress-up with you, Winn,” she sighed, while the man let out a dramatic sound as he followed her down the stairwell.

“But it's not fair! You can’t even use the ‘I’m reconstructing National City’-excuse this time! I've already had to accept the fact that James won't go as Chewbacca -despite the fact we'd make the _perfect_ Han and Chewy- so I really need you on this one!” Lena was not in the mood for this conversation (although she had to admit Winn and James _would_ be perfect as Han and Chewy). Before she could brush him off, however, a loud voice resonated through the stairwell.

“Hey, lady!! Are you Lena Luthor?!”

Lena frowned as she came to a stop and saw someone round the corner and meet her halfway up the stairs. It was a broad-shouldered teenager with black hair, wearing a National City High jacket, who was looking her up and down while chewing gum and Lena's temper risked spilling over at his impertinence. Although her argument with a certain blonde superhero was probably a contributing factor. She crossed her arms as she gave the teen her patented corporate glare. “Young man, I don't know where you think you are-”

“Lena…”

“-but you'll find that most people need to book an appointment with me.”

“Lena…”

“Furthermore-”

“Lena!”

“What?!” Lena snapped her head to the side, where Winn had been trying to get her attention.

“Lena, there's…” he nervously glanced around before leaning closer, “there's no one there,” he whispered. Lena's eyes widened as she looked back at the teenager, who was giving her a calculating look.

“Huh… so Roulette actually wasn't lying,” he said, seeming surprised.

Lena immediately reached into her pocket and reached for her phone, thinking she should maybe just glue it to her ear so she'd be ready whenever another ghost showed up. “No… no she wasn't,” Lena responded nervously as she glanced around the stairwell which was miraculously empty. This streak of dumb luck was surely bound to end sooner or later. “There's a place where we can talk freely,” she said while turning around and walking back up the stairs. The boy thankfully didn't question her as he and Winn both followed her all the way to the abandoned office where she'd talked to Jay. Once they were all inside, Lena locked the door behind them and lowered her phone.

“Oh my god!!” Winn laughed loudly as he looked around the room. “You actually found the old Supergirl headquarters!!”

Lena frowned in confusion. “Headquarters?”

“Yeah!! Before she joined the DEO, me and James helped her from here!! This room must attract heroes or something!!”

“You people for real?” Lena looked back at the boy, who had gotten comfortable in one of the chairs and was giving them both an amused look. “Y’all really know who Supergirl is?” Lena clenched her jaw, as this was probably not something she should be talking about to a ghost who could potentially refer this knowledge to Roulette. Her sidekick could be really unhelpful like that…

“That information is classified,” she replied sternly and the boy, for his part, didn't seem to care all that much. “And like I’ve told _you_ countless times,” she turned to glare at Winn, “I'm not a hero,” she reprimanded. The man seemed to want to protest, but Lena turned back to the boy. “Are you… are you Jay's friend?” she asked carefully. “Are you Ronnie Maverick?”

“Friend?!” the boy scoffed loudly. “We were just in the same class last year. If I'd just kicked his scrawny ass instead of sneaking into that building, I'd still be alive right now,” he stated bitterly. “So y'all gonna help me or what?” Ronnie looked at them expectantly, but Lena needed to further her investigation first.

“Ronnie, did Roulette make you follow someone?” she asked intently. “And if so, what were their names?”

Ronnie waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Yeah, yeah, I followed some guy. I don't remember his name.”

Lena let out a measured sigh, because five minutes in, and she'd already had enough of this case. “Ronnie, it's really important that you try to remember-”

“Look, lady, aren't you supposed to get me to heaven or something?”

“There's no such thing as heaven!” Lena snapped, her irritation probably triggered a lot easier thanks to last night's argument. “Now, if you would just try to remember-”

“No heaven?” the boy frowned as he looked up at her from his seat and folded his arms. “Then what the hell am I doing here?” 

Lena ignored his ironic choice of words as she tried to remain calm while explaining. “Well… most people have unfinished business here…” Lena started slowly. “Isn’t there… someone you’re worried about? A friend, or a family member? I’m sure your parents must be very-”

“Screw my parents!” he interrupted. Lena raised her  eyebrows at his outburst. “I just wanna get on with this whole death thing. The only ‘unfinished business’ is that I’m still here.” Lena rubbed her temple, because she could feel a headache coming on. Which was unsurprising, considering the paradoxical nature of the boy’s statement.

“Look, Ronnie, if you’ve turned into a ghost there _has_ to be a reason. As far as I know, nobody-”

“Of course there’s a reason!! It’s because I got blown up while following that nerd through the air ducts!!” Ronnie stood up from the chair as he seemed to be getting more and more annoyed by the second. And if there was anything positive that could be taken from this situation, it was that at least they had something in common now. “I got blown up, woke up in the middle of the rubble, hallucinated some shit and then I couldn’t touch anything and that’s why I’m a ghost!! There, mystery solved!!” The boy crossed his arms and looked at the young CEO with anger in his eyes, but Lena suddenly snapped to attention. Because Ronnie might have just said something important.

“What do you mean… you hallucinated?”

“I mean, I saw shit that wasn’t there.”

“I know what hallucinating means!” she hissed through her teeth. “But this might be important…”

“Why?” the boy scoffed. “It was no big deal, it happened when I had a concussion too.” Lena looked at him with raised eyebrows, prompting him to elaborate; “I’m a linebacker, lady,” he proclaimed, looking smug. “When you’re snuffing out running backs and constantly blitzing the pocket, you’re gonna take a few hits.”

Lena was just going to assume he was talking about football (judging by his sports jacket), since half the words in that sentence made no sense to her. What was more important however, was her growing suspicion. “But you said you hallucinated _after_ you died,” Lena asked intently. “Ronnie…” she stepped closer to him, as her tone softened, “…in this hallucination, did someone you know… did someone die?”

Ronnie took a step back, seeming pretty freaked out. “Whoa…” he looked her up and down, “…you a psychic too, or something?”

“No… Ronnie…” she swallowed upon having her doubts confirmed, “what you saw… I think you saw the future.”

The boy’s face fell into disbelief. “No… there’s no way…”

“It’s true, Ronnie,” she insisted. “When something tragic happens to those they care about, ghosts can sometimes see the future. It happened to Jess’s father. And it happened to my own father as well…”

“No, no…” Ronnie was now shaking his head, fear overtaking his features, “it’s… it’s not possible, she… she can’t… Nell’s only six… she… it’s not…”

“Nell?” Lena asked, trying to get the boy to focus instead of spiralling into a panic.

“My… my sister…” he stammered, “she… she can’t…”

“Calm down,” Lena commanded, holding out her hands reassuringly, “we can still change what happens. I’ve done it before…” Lena swallowed, because the last time had definitely been a close call, “…but I need you to tell me exactly what you saw. Walk me through it,” Lena insisted, as Ronnie seemed to calm down just a little. He took a few deep breaths, before recounting his vision.

“I… I saw my house. It was full of people and… everyone was wearing black. And Nell… she…” he gulped loudly, “…she was going down the stairs, but… the railing stops at the corner and… she slipped and- and then…” he hesitated for a while, before forcing himself to continue, “…she fell down the stairs… all the way down… and then she didn’t move anymore. Like… at all.” The boy was just looking ahead, seeming completely horrified, but the gears in Lena’s head were already turning. She wasn’t exactly sure of the time table on police forensics, but it had been over a week since she’d given Ronnie and Jay’s names to Maggie. Which presumably meant that their parents knew they were dead now. And if Ronnie had seen everyone wearing black…

“Ronnie…” she started, “Ronnie, look at me.” The boy seemingly got pulled out of his horrified state as he looked back at Lena. “You said there were a lot of people wearing black at your house, right? So… do you know if they’re giving you a funeral?” she asked. The boy’s eyes widened as he seemed to understand what she was getting at.

“No, it’s… they called it a wake. You think that’s where it happens?”

“That seems likely,” Lena responded, as she was already missing the case where she was just in charge of delivering a message to a high school crush. As opposed to holding the life of a six-year-old in her hands. “When is it?” she asked intently. “When is your wake?”

Ronnie gulped loudly. “It’s today…”

“TODAY?!”

Lena and Ronnie looked at each other, both with horrified expressions, as the boy seemed to realise that his sister might only have hours to live, while Lena realised that they had virtually no time to prepare for this mission. They stood there in stunned silence for a second, before the gravity of the moment was rudely disrupted by the one person who was apparently excited by this dreadful scenario.

“Wow!!” Winn exclaimed a little too loudly. “My first premonition case!! This is gonna be awesome!!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“So… I don’t want to… tell you… how to… do your job…” Winn heaved through ragged breaths, while running alongside Lena, “but I really think… Trevor… deserves… to be fired.”

Lena just hummed, as she was heaving and sighing just as severely as Winn was, while they sprinted towards their destination. Trevor had been with her from day one, so she wasn’t exactly eager to hand the man his notice. But seeing as Winn and herself were now forced to actually _run_ to Ronnie’s house after Trevor had once again failed to show up, she had to admit that she was starting to seriously consider it. They’d already had very little time to change into something appropriate, but Lena thankfully had a wide array of business outfits at the ready, which meant that finding a black one hadn’t been too complicated. Winn on the other hand, had to improvise. The only black shirt he owned was part of his DEO uniform, which is exactly the shirt he was wearing now. Plus a bowtie to, quote; ‘look more formal’. Lena just thought it looked weird but thanks to her driver’s recent incompetence, they didn’t have time to argue about it.

They finally went  past a long line of parked cars upon arriving at the right street, before turning into the gravel path that led to the front door of the very large house. They finally slowed down as they approached the door, both trying to bring their breathing down to a socially acceptable level, while Winn nervously straightened his bowtie and Lena wiped the sweat from her forehead. There was a loud scoffing sound coming from her left, as Ronnie shook his head at them.

“Y’all could really use some exercise,” he said dryly. Lena threw him a foul look as they stepped onto the porch, because this was _not_ the right time to be making snarky remarks. No matter how accurate they might be…

Lena and her sidekick both took a moment, and when their breathing stopped resembling that of a dying horse, they stepped into the house. They immediately found themselves surrounded by countless people dressed in black and even Lena, who was used to large gatherings in expensive houses, was impressed by the amount of people that were present. The soft murmuring of the large congregation cloaked the house in a dim atmosphere and it didn’t really help when Ronnie started walking straight through the guests. “The stairs are this way, lady,” he motioned ahead, towards the right side of the spacious hall. Lena and Winn carefully followed, but as they were solid lifeforms, they didn’t make it there so swiftly, having to slowly manoeuvre their way through the packed hall. Yet somehow, when Lena threw a glance to the side, Winn was suddenly holding a fistful of shrimps.

“Winn!” she hissed, her tone as incredulous as possible without attracting attention to themselves. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What?” he whispered, giving her a shrug. “It’s free food, I can’t just ignore it.”

“You sound like Kara,” she replied bitterly, still carefully navigating through the sea of people to get to the stairs of Ronnie’s premonition.

“Whoa… what was that?”

“What was what?” Lena asked.

“I’ve never heard you say Kara’s name like it’s a curse word before,” Winn remarked as he chewed on his food, while Lena just huffed out a breath, because this was really neither the time nor the place to talk about this. “What, did you guys fight or something?”

“Yes, if you must know,” Lena huffed in irritation. She gave a friendly nod to the two people she had to squeeze past, before throwing a glance to her sidekick. “Did you know?” Lena asked, genuinely curious. “That she believes in that… Kryptonian religion?”

“Well, yeah, of course,” Winn responded. “It’s kind of a big deal to her…” he frowned as Lena shook her head in annoyance, “…wait, you didn’t actually give her a hard time about that, did you?”

Lena didn't respond immediately, as they'd reached the bottom of the stairs and carefully moved next to the railing. They were close enough to the table with refreshments for their positioning to not look awkward, but as soon as Nell would start coming down the stairs, they could be up the steps and near the corner of the stairway in no time. Lena subtly nodded at Ronnie, who immediately ran up the stairs to check his sister's whereabouts like they'd planned.

“Well?”

Lena looked back at Winn, who was loudly chewing on his shrimps, but was apparently also still waiting for her to continue their conversation. Lena let out a measured sigh. “Look, I didn't mean to be insensitive or anything, but come on! All this talk about the light of Rao being everywhere and all that coming from a planet that was supposed to be so much more advanced than humans.” Lena shook her head in exasperation. “It's just frustrating that she would hold on to something so illogical. I mean,” she gave the man beside her a questioning look, “you agree with me, right? You don't believe all that…” Lena tried to put it delicately, but decided she _really_ didn't want to, “…religious nonsense?”

Winn gave a non-committal shrug, still chewing on his shrimps. “I think if you'd asked me a year ago I would've definitely said no. But I'd like to point out that right now we're crashing a wake because an invisible person saw the future. So, you know,” he gave another shrug, “it's totally possible for there to be things that can't be explained.”

“Yet!” Lena hissed loudly, because things being illogical still annoyed her to no end. Which was an additional reason for the Roulette situation being so infuriating. “We can't explain them yet!” Lena elaborated. “I'll let you know that I've been writing down a basic set of principles based on my interactions with ghosts, so… there are patterns. And at least patterns are closely akin to logic.”

Winn gasped as his eyes went wide. “You have a rule book?! You mean like… a Mystical Manual! No wait, I can do better. Like… a Book of Shadows! No wait, that's been done…”

“It's not mystical!” Lena hissed, her irritation growing exponentially. “They're scientific observations!”

Winn didn't appear to be listening to her objections, as he still seemed to be looking for a pretentious moniker to give to Lena's scribble-filled notebook. “This actually totally makes sense!” he rambled on. “Superheroes always gradually get more powers or gadgets over time!”

“I'm not a hero and I'm frankly sick of reminding you of it.”

“Yes, you are,” Winn protested immediately. “You're a big hero. Really big. Like, this big- oh!” Winn had tried to demonstrate just how big by spreading his arms, but he quickly retracted them when he almost hit a middle-aged woman in the face. “Sorry,” he mumbled, looking embarrassed.

“That's quite alright,” the woman said coolly, but her eyes weren't very friendly as she kept scanning the duo in front of her, and her eyes narrowed as they paused on Winn's bowtie. “Might I ask how you knew my son?” Lena called on all her poise and dignity to force out a small smile, while supressing the urge to strangle her sidekick whose flailing had caused them to run into Ronnie's mother, of all people. Sometimes she wasn't sure the man's help was worth the trouble.

“We didn't,” Lena improvised. “I've met his father a few times. I simply came to pay my respects.” The woman was still looking them over and Lena realised that if the woman's husband was nearby they'd be royally screwed, but it had been the first thing to pop in her head. 

“Why are you wearing a badge?” the woman suddenly questioned, looking at the plastic item on Winn's shirt. The man opened and closed his mouth a few times, appearing to prove Maggie's assumptions during their previous case to be true.

“I… that… inside… it's- it's an inside… joke… do you know if there are any more shrimps?” he suddenly questioned, not so subtly changing the subject while holding up the sole remaining crustacean in his hand.

“Yes, I… think there's more upstairs,” the woman gestured to the other side of the large room, where there was a staircase similar to the one they were standing next to. Winn quickly made himself scarce, shooting Lena an apologetic look before he started making his way through the large congregation. Lena swallowed as she looked back at the woman who was still frowning, while following Winn with narrowed eyes.

“You'll have to excuse my friend,” Lena started, regaining the woman's attention. “He's a bit… eccentric… but he means well.” 

“Does he work with my husband as well?” the woman asked, still not looking all that friendly. Then again, her son had recently died so maybe she shouldn't be expected to be all smiles.

“No, I asked him to accompany me. I just…” Lena hesitated, but decided that being honest about something might be a nice change of pace, “I didn't really want to come here alone. I tend to avoid funerals.” She swallowed harshly, remembering her brother who had held her close during the last time she’d attended a similar event.

“It's a wake,” the woman stated coldly. Lena cleared her throat, feeling highly uncomfortable and not knowing what to say. Thankfully, at that point a tall man tapped the older woman on the shoulder and whispered something in her ear. “Excuse me,” the woman gave Lena a small nod, before following the man and disappearing into an adjacent room, the large double doors closing behind them. Lena couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief, because she was really tired of getting almost caught all the time.

Lena shook her head, not quite understanding Winn’s insistence on calling her a hero. Wasn't all this fumbling proof enough that she was nothing of the sort? Wasn't the fact that they kept finding themselves in these situations proof enough that she shouldn’t have a title that Kara carried gracefully every day? Not to mention that when Kara saved someone, they stayed saved. As opposed to Samantha Carr, Lena thought bitterly, because the memory of the girl was causing Lena’s guilt to eat away at her these past few weeks. Because Sam had passed on trusting that her father would be happy, or at least satisfied, with having one honest reporter working for him. But now the man was on a ‘sabbatical’. And you might as well triple the size of those air quotes, because it was painfully obvious that the man had gotten out of there the very second Lena had done the one thing that he believed compromised the entire journalistic integrity of his work: buying CatCo. And she didn’t know what to do about it. She couldn’t stop seeing Sam’s face in her head every time she walked past Snapper’s empty office, but she just didn’t know-

“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”

Lena looked to the side, where the tall man from before was standing in front of the now open double doors.

“We are ready to begin. If you would all come this way.”

The entire mass of people started walking towards the right side of the big hall, and towards the room where the actual wake was apparently going to be held. Lena stayed clear of the stream of people by standing beside the railing of the stairs, pretending to look at something on her phone. In reality, Lena was worrying that maybe they’d made a mistake in assuming this was when Nell would fall to her death, seeing as the large hall was now starting to empty. It might still happen after the ceremony, though. After all, Lionel’s vision hadn’t exactly been linear either…

“YO, LADY!!”

Lena’s head snapped up, seeing Ronnie sprint down the steps in a panic.

“IT’S THE WRONG STAIRS!! SHE’S COMING DOWN THE OTHER ONES!!”

Lena’s breath hitched in her throat, as she looked at the stairs on the other end of the room. The other end of the gigantic room. The room that was filled with people coming in her direction. Lena immediately charged forward, with a repeated ‘excuse me’ on her lips and with panic filling her chest.

“HURRY UP!! WILL YOU HURRY UP, LADY?!!”

Lena started moving more aggressively, using her elbows to move forward which earned her several offended gasps. Ronnie had already moved through all the guests and was standing halfway up the other set of stairs, frantically looking from Lena to the space behind the corner that Lena couldn’t see. But judging by Ronnie’s expression, Nell wasn’t far away.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! SHE’S ALMOST THERE!!”

Lena was now bumping shoulders with every single person headed in the opposite direction, but the sea of people was just too vast for them to collectively move out of her way. Even with Moses-like powers she wouldn’t have been able to make space for herself, and the fact that she’d now started making biblical analogies said a lot about the degree of her panic.

“RUN FASTER, YOU IDIOT!!

Lena was almost there when she saw it. She was just a few feet from the bottom of the stairs, when she saw a tiny shoe appear from around the corner. Time seemed to slow down and Lena’s insides turned to ice as a tiny hand appeared on the railing, followed by a small girl in a little grey dress. The girl was looking at her feet in deep concentration as she slowly waddled down the steps, not noticing the gap in the railing at the corner of the staircase. Lena was stuck between two large guests who wouldn’t be moved, Ronnie was screaming in panic while his hands went straight through his little sister’s arm in a futile attempt to grab her. Lena’s movements completely stopped as Nell’s little left hand reached the gap in the railing.

The girl’s hand slipped… her tiny foot missed the step… Ronnie screamed as his sister lost her balance and keeled over…

“Whoa, there!” Suddenly the girl’s right arm got grabbed from behind the corner, as she yelped in surprise before finding her footing again. Ronnie and his sister both looked at the hand that was keeping the girl standing up with wide eyes. “You should be more careful, little one.” The hand let go of Nell, as from behind the corner a man with a friendly smile, an ugly bowtie, a plastic badge on his shirt and a plate full of shrimps in his other hand stepped into view. “Where are your parents?” The little girl didn’t answer, as she gave the man a sheepish look, before quickly waddling down the rest of the stairs and away from the scary stranger. “Hey! I just said you should be more careful!”

The girl didn’t look back as she ran past a stunned Lena and after the sea of people who had now all reached the double doors. When the girl reached the room, someone closed the doors behind her, leaving just Ronnie, who was breathing heavily halfway up the stairs, Lena, who was looking at her sidekick with wide eyes, and Winn, who shook his head as he casually walked down the stairs. “Pfft… kids these days.” He picked a shrimp from his plate and stepped up to Lena, who was still staring at him in shock. “Couldn’t even manage a thank- Lena?” He frowned at her. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“You saved her…”

“Huh?” He looked confused for a moment, before shooting a glance at the double doors. “Oh… OH! That was it?!” He laughed incredulously as he shook his head. “Wow… I thought it would be more dramatic or something. But hey, go team, right?” He held up his fist with a broad grin in place and Lena decided to humour him. Because even though it had been dumb luck rather than team work, and even though it had been more than dramatic enough for her taste, if the man wanted a fist bump she wasn’t going to deny him right now. Winn just chuckled as their knuckles connected, before happily munching away on his shrimps and Lena just looked at him in awe for a moment, before her eyes shifted to what was going on behind him.

Ronnie had slumped against the railing to sit on the steps, breathing out heavily with relief, and Lena started climbing the stairs towards him. But before she could say anything he suddenly spoke up: “Blake Vardy.”

Lena stopped and blinked. “What?”

“The… the guy I had to follow… his name was Blake Vardy.”

He just kept looking down as he continued to breathe heavily, and before Lena even had a chance to say thank you, he started to emit light. The light glowed dimly at first, before growing brighter and starting to move over Ronnie’s body. She could still hear his heavy breaths as the glow slowly but surely enveloped his entire figure, leaving just the outline of his huddled up posture, defined by the light. Lena kept looking as the light started pulling away, forming those smaller sections shaped like orbs. She let her eyes go over all of them, as they hovered away from  each other and just remained motionless for a second. Then she watched them slowly fade, the light growing weaker and weaker, before finally, he was completely gone. Leaving only two people in the immense hall, as Lena watched the corner of the steps where Ronnie had just been sitting, and Winn was still occupied with the consumption of his shrimps.

 

Ronnie Maverick had just passed on.

And right then and there… Lena promised herself she’d never question the usefulness of her sidekick ever again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

You would think that saving a six-year-old from certain death would be enough to make someone’s day. It would make most people’s month, in all likelihood. But Lena Luthor had a multitude of problems going on in her life, and the ghost-related ones were just a small portion. That’s why her mind was already on the purchase that would hopefully solve one of those other problems, while riding her private elevator to the top floor of L-Corp. When the loud ding announced her arrival on the correct floor, she stepped out into the corridor. Lena frowned, because bent over the desk that was supposed to be manned by Hector now, was Jess. She was muttering loudly to herself, while searching through the disorganised stack of papers in front of her as Lena stepped closer.

“Where’s Hector?” she asked, while her former assistant didn’t even look up from her frantic search.

“He left an hour ago,” Jess responded, sounding annoyed. “I know you were very adamant about him keeping his job, but is there any chance you could reconsider?”

“Jess…” the young CEO reprimanded, “the man recently found out his estranged father has been dead for over a month. Do you think that you could cut him some slack for at least the rest of the week?” Jess didn’t respond, instead just huffing out a breath. “And besides,” Lena continued with a small smirk, “five PM is a perfectly reasonable time to go home. In fact, I think that when you notice that Hector has left, it might be time to go home for you as well.”

Jess stopped her movements, straightening up and giving the youngest Luthor a suspicious and almost stubborn look. “Is that why you came all the way over here? To tell me I should go home?”

Lena just laughed at that. “No, there’s actually something important I need you to take care of,” Lena started, changing the subject to the reason of her presence there. “I need you to make an acquisition for me.”

Jess frowned at her. “You mean like the time I had to suddenly get you the entire N’Sync discography?”

“No!” Lena protested, a blush creeping up her cheeks at her willingness to delve into Kara’s music taste. “L-Corp is purchasing a small business. Here…” she pulled the folder containing the details out of her handbag, handing it to Jess as she stepped towards their shared office, “if you could ensure-”

“Hang on,” Jess interjected, motioning Lena to stop. “Detective Sawyer is waiting for you in there,” she motioned at the office. “Hector let her in,” Jess explained upon seeing Lena’s surprised expression. “Apparently she couldn’t find you at CatCo and now she’s refusing to leave. She wasn’t in a great mood,” the former assistant added.

“Oh…” Lena frowned at the closed doors, “…give me a minute, alright?” She received a nod in return, and as she stepped into the office she now shared with Jess, she noticed Maggie slumped in one of the visitor’s chairs with a glass of scotch already in hand. She made sure the doors to the office were closed, ensuring their privacy, before stepping next to the detective.

“Most people ask, before helping themselves to my liquor, you know?” Lena commented as she sat down in the adjacent chair, while Maggie didn’t even bother to look at her. “Did you find those people I told you about?” she asked hopefully.

“Give me a break, Luthor,” Maggie retorted harshly. “I’ve already got the captain on my ass about this exploded fight club case going cold, then today I got saddled with an investigation into a string of alien kidnappings that’s going nowhere and, oh yeah, my mom stormed out of my wedding shower.” Maggie bitterly shook her head, and Lena was slightly taken aback by the woman’s cold voice. “I think I finally understand you a little more, kid,” Maggie continued, and Lena was too surprised by the woman’s unusually vulnerable behaviour to be offended at being called a kid again. “I wanted to tell her that my dad had come around so badly… I wanted to scream it from the rooftops that she had no right to tell me that he would be ashamed of me… that she didn’t know anything…” the detective huffed out a breath, before forcing down the rest of her drink in one go. “But, yeah… I get it now. I get that your power must be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

Lena swallowed, because ‘a pain in the ass’ was definitely putting it mildly, but she was more concerned about Maggie right now. About the woman looking the opposite of her resolute and pragmatic self, instead appearing so small and defeated and Lena wasn’t sure how to handle it. She was just about to say something reassuring, assuming she could figure out the words, but she was stunned when Maggie suddenly covered her eyes with her hand and the corners of her lips started trembling.

“I think I’m losing her, Lena…”

Lena felt her insides constrict, because she’d never heard Maggie’s voice sound so broken and she instinctively got out of her chair, kneeling in front of her and trying to look the detective in the eye. “Well… screw her!” Lena exclaimed. “You and I, we… we don’t need our mothers! We  are more than capable-”

“No…” Maggie shook her head, inhaling sharply as she appeared to be forcefully holding back her tears. “I mean... Alex… I think… I think she blames me.” Lena watched in astonishment, as she'd only ever seen Maggie in this state when the ghost of her father had appeared. “Catching Lillian was her best shot at finding her father… and then I killed her… and then Henshaw disappeared and- and-” the detective struggled to formulate more words, as she swallowed harshly. “I think she blames me, Lena… she can't get her father back and it's my fault and I- I don't know if she wants to get married anymore, and… I don't…” Maggie looked away as her face contorted and Lena felt a sting in her chest at that sight. “She's my only family now… my mom made that very clear…” the detective swallowed harshly as holding back her tears was starting to become an impossible task. “And I just… I just don't know what to do…” Maggie tried to hide her tears behind her hand again, but Lena grabbed the woman's sleeves.

“If Alex really blames you for that, she's an idiot!” Lena said fiercely. “And you've still got me, do you hear me?! If it comes to picking sides, I will be on yours!” Lena shuddered at that prospect, because despite not seeing them together all that often and despite the fact that Alex was clearly less than fond of her, she still found it hard to imagine those two breaking up. I mean… if even Maggie and Alex couldn't get a happily ever after… if even those two couldn't make it work… was love even real?

Maggie actually huffed out a laugh as she wiped at her tears. “You'll pick my side, huh?” Despite her trembling lips, she still attempted a smirk. “Even when little Danvers sides with Alex?”

Lena huffed out a breath, glad that the detective had at least stopped crying. “Believe it or not, we don't actually agree on everything,” she replied, as last night's argument with Kara suddenly seemed very far away.

_“You can't go in there!!”_

The double doors to the office suddenly swung open, as Alex Danvers barged in with a highly offended Jess hot on her heels. “I'm so sorry Ms. Luthor! She's almost as fast as her-”

“So there you are!” Alex completely ignored Jess's indignant sputtering, as she crossed her arms and looked at her fiancée’s back and Lena kneeling in front of her. Maggie quickly wiped her tears as she got out of her seat, while the youngest Luthor slowly stood straight up, feeling an unusually strong protective instinct come over her. She crossed her arms as she stepped next to Maggie, glaring intently at the woman who had reduced her friend to tears. 

“You can’t just walk out on me like that!” Alex barked angrily.

“Well, I’m sorry if I don’t enjoy being your verbal punching bag!” Maggie shot back in a bitter tone.

“I just want you to talk to me!” Alex seemed to be fuming as she darted her eyes between Maggie and the youngest Luthor. “But apparently you need a _Luthor_ to hear you out, is that it?!”

“Don’t drag Lena into this,” Maggie sighed in exasperation, before Lena had a chance to voice her indignation.

“You need to leave right now!” Jess tried to interject, without actually gaining anyone’s attention. “If you don’t, I’ll call secur-”

“Oh, sure, defend the resident Luthor too while you’re at it!!” Alex snapped, now looking completely beside herself. “You can’t talk to me, but when things get bad, you run straight to her?! What is it?! Are you two sleeping together or what?!”

“Excuse me?!!” Lena exclaimed.

Maggie shook her head. “How can you even say-”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!! MS. LUTHOR WOULD NEVER CHEAT ON MS. DANVERS!!”

A deafening silence fell over the room, as Alex, Maggie and Lena all turned their heads towards Jess. Maggie just snorted loudly with her eyebrows raised to her hairline, while Lena and Alex both looked like they’d just swallowed a lemon. “Come… come again?” Alex muttered weakly.

“I said that Ms. Luthor would never do something like that!” Jess responded fiercely. “I don’t know what kind of problems there are in _your_ relationship, but your sister and Ms. Luthor are doing just fine and-”

“Jess, stop it!!” Lena finally found her voice again, as she gave her misguided CFO a frazzled look. “Why would you think that Kara and I are dating?!”

Jess looked completely floored by the statement. “What… what do you mean…” she darted her eyes between the three women in front of her, as Alex and Lena were still looking stunned and Maggie was doing her best to contain her laughter. “…but… you always… seem so happy when she’s here…”

“Because we’re friends!!”

“You gave her that necklace…”

“As a friendly gesture!!”

“You take her to romantic dinners…”

“They’re completely platonic dinners!!”

“You sent her a room full of flowers…”

“As a thank you!!”

“…on Valentine’s day.”

Lena was momentarily stunned. “No, it… it wasn’t Valentine’s…” she protested weakly, “I got kidnapped on the 12th and I sent them the next day…”

“That was the first batch,” Jess interjected. “The ones you sent to her apartment were definitely on Valentine’s day.”

“Wait a minute…” Alex blinked, as she tried to learn how to formulate words again, “…those flowers were from you?!”

Jess frowned at the secret agent. “How could you miss that?” she asked incredulously. “There was a card and everything!”

“We… we thought they were from Mxzy- I mean, this guy who was stalking her,” Alex quickly amended her slip-up. “We just threw them out.”

“She…” Lena’s voice involuntarily softened as she turned to Alex, “…she didn’t read the card?” she asked in a voice that _might_ have sounded a bit hurt.

Those words were apparently what tipped the scale, as Maggie couldn’t contain herself anymore and started wheezing for air, completely laughing her ass off. Alex still looked like she’d seen a ghost ( _oh, the irony_ ), as she kept glancing between Lena and her cackling fiancée. “Come… come on, Danvers,” the detective managed to force out between her laughter, “let’s… let’s let these two work this out…” she kept cackling to herself as she guided Alex towards the door.

“But- but…” the secret agent kept protesting weakly, as she looked over her shoulder at Lena and Jess, but eventually Maggie managed to get her out of the office as the double doors closed behind them. The two remaining women just stood there for a while, looking each other in the eye with similar flabbergasted expressions, before one of them finally spoke up.

“So…” Jess swallowed nervously, “…you’re… you’re really not dating?”

“No!!” Lena protested vigorously, her cheeks a deep shade of red at this point.

“Right…” Jess nodded to herself, her eyes darting back and forward and apparently trying to wrap her head around that. She hesitantly started turning towards the doors, but quickly pivoted back. “Are you sure?!” she asked with a deep frown.

“I think I would know it, if I was dating Kara Danvers!!” Lena protested, highly annoyed at this feeling of complete and utter embarrassment that was becoming a recurring theme in her life.

“Right… right…” Jess looked like she wanted to turn away again, but something was keeping her in place. “But…” she hesitantly searched her boss’s eyes, “…but you… you would… _want_ to?”

Lena’s automatic negative retort got stuck in her throat, as she looked at Jess’s concerned expression. She tried to force the self-preservational lie past her lips, but instead the result was an incoherent series of stammers. She felt her face heat up as she continued trying to get any words out, hanging her head and looking at the floor in an attempt to move past her verbal blockage. She didn’t succeed, but apparently she didn’t need to.

“Awwwww…”

Lena looked up at the curious sound, finding Jess clutching her heart and giving her a look that she was pretty sure most people reserved for pictures of kittens and new-born babies. Lena frowned suspiciously at the smaller woman and Jess, for her part, managed to look contrite. “Sorry, I… that wasn’t very…” she muttered, obviously trying very hard to regain some semblance of professionalism. “But seriously, if… if you need any help…”

“Thank you,” Lena replied as evenly as she could, not sure if she should be relieved or concerned about her former assistant’s reaction to all this, “but I think it would be best if you just take care of that purchase for L-Corp now.”

Jess briefly glanced at the folder she was still holding before giving her a small nod. “Right, I’ll… I’ll go do that…” Jess briefly shot her another curious look, one that made it seem like she’d never seen anything so endearing, before slowly heading for the doors. Before reaching them, however, she froze in place and inhaled sharply. She slowly turned around, and Lena frowned at her change in demeanour as the woman was suddenly looking very concerned. “Um… Ms. Luthor?”

“Yes?” Lena asked warily, not sure what to make of the woman’s almost horrified expression.

“If you… if you see Supergirl again… could you tell her I’m _really_ sorry about our last conversation?”

“Wait, what?”

“Just tell her that, alright?” Jess said nervously as she started backing away.

“Jess…”

“Gotta go, bye.”

“What did you do?!”

The woman didn’t respond as she basically ran out of the office.  

“Jess!!”

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

Mancini’s was closed for a private function tonight.

Or at least, that’s what the sign on the door said. Inside the restaurant there was actually no one present. Except for Lorenzo, who was toiling away in the kitchen, and the 25-year old owner of two international conglomerates, who was nervously adjusting her shirt as she waited for Kara to arrive. She was standing next to a table set for two; the very same table they’d been sitting at last night before the blonde woman had stormed out. Now, the slightly dimmed lights hanging overhead illuminated the restaurant, much like the city lights were illuminating the streets outside. Lena couldn’t stop fiddling with her shirt, as she sincerely hoped that Kara would actually show up to her impromptu invitation. Her fretting wasn’t prolonged too much, as five minutes after the agreed time she heard the tinkle that signalled the opening of the front door.

“Lena?”

“Over here,” Lena called out, already unable to maintain a regular heartbeat. Kara appeared from the lobby, curiously glancing at all the empty tables in the restaurant as she slowly and unsurely walked up to the only table that was actually set, where Lena was standing while nervously fiddling with her fingers. _Seriously, where was her poise and her dignity when she needed it?_

Kara crossed her arms, as she gave Lena a curious look. “So, um… what’s going on?”

Lena swallowed, as hearing the woman’s voice directed at her in a less than friendly tone was already doing things to her, but she kept her cool. For now. “I… I wanted to apologise,” she started hesitantly. “For yesterday…” Lena paused, as Kara wasn’t even looking her in the eye, instead stubbornly looking to the side with her arms still crossed. “I know… that the things you remember from Krypton… are important to you,” Lena started slowly, thinking that all those mental drafts of what she was going to say weren’t helpful in the slightest when Kara was standing this close. “And… I didn’t mean… it wasn’t my intention to make fun of that. And… I’m sorry… I’m really sorry if I upset you.” She gave the woman a pleading look, as Kara finally looked at her.

“But you still think it’s stupid, right?” Kara asked with a frown. “That I believe in Rao?”

Kara kept giving her that stubborn look and Lena bit the inside of her cheek, because this was exactly the turn she was afraid the conversation would take. She forced down all her years of scientific study and academic prowess and instead called on the power of diplomacy. Because as much as she didn’t want to hurt Kara’s feelings, she also didn’t want to lie to her. (And being honest with Kara was something she _always_ tried to do. _So you can stop looking so smug, Talbot!!)_

“I… don’t believe in things that can’t be proven,” Lena started carefully, “but that doesn’t mean I want to tell _you_ what to believe,” she added quickly. “So you know, if- if…” Lena struggled for a moment, trying desperately to not sound judgemental with her choice of words, “if you choose to believe in faith rather than… scientific truths, then I… I don’t want to make you feel bad about that. I mean, I… I never want you to feel bad…”

Kara huffed out a breath, as she finally uncrossed her arms and finally looked a little less guarded. “It’s not that I choose one over the other,” she explained. “I mean… I guess in a way, truth is just what you believe in.” Kara shrugged, and Lena had to close her eyes for a moment as the scientist in her was just _dying_ to rail and rant against that contradictory statement, but she managed to keep her tongue. “And faith is just having a reason…” Kara continued, “it’s having a reason to believe in something. I mean… surely you understand that? There must be _something_ you believe in…”

Kara kept looking at her with raised eyebrows and Lena felt rather scrutinised. “Well… of course I do, I…” _-Shut up! Don’t say it! Don’t be an idiot! Don’t say-_ “…I believe in you.” Lena swallowed after uttering those embarrassing words, and Kara gave her a curious expression, almost looking at her in wonder. “I mean, I- I- I’m not going to start a cult in your name or anything,” Lena laughed nervously, “but you know… you’ve always been there for me… and you’ve always _proven_ that I can count on you… so yeah,” she shrugged, “I believe in you.”

Lena was nervous as she looked back up, but she was delighted to find one of her favourite things in the world. Kara was smiling at her. “Well… there you go,” the blonde woman proclaimed, and she explained further upon seeing Lena’s confused frown: “Faith and science not being mutually exclusive.”

Kara kept giving her a broad smile and Lena huffed out a nervous laugh, because despite the fact she still believed that to be a flawed statement, despite the fact there were several holes in the woman’s logic, she didn’t really care at this point. Because she would take a dozen more flawed statements, if they came with Kara smiling like that. “I… respectfully disagree,” Lena smirked, and Kara didn’t stop smiling at her so she pressed on. “But since I wasn’t very nice about it last night…” she motioned to the table beside them, “…apology dinner.”

Kara ducked her head in that adorable fashion and Lena’s heart apparently took that as a cue to start doing multiple backflips. “As if you need an excuse to have dinner with me,” Kara teased, causing Lena’s cheeks to  turn pink, because she’d definitely made a habit of taking Kara out to eat after the woman had stopped ignoring her. Kara didn’t seem to notice as she let her hand go over the neatly set table. “I still can’t believe you shut down Mancini’s just to get a private table,” she laughed.

“Actually… I bought it for you.”

Kara’s head snapped to attention, as she blinked in surprise. “You… bought me a permanent table at _Mancini’s?!”_ she exclaimed incredulously.

“No, no,” Lena laughed as she waved dismissively at the misunderstanding, while Kara let out a relieved breath. “I meant the restaurant.”

Kara’s face fell in disbelief as she opened and closed her mouth a few times. “You… bought Mancini’s?” she asked weakly, as she darted her eyes between Lena’s. “For me?”

“Well… yes.”

“Lena!!” She huffed out an incredulous breath as she moved a hand in front of her mouth and looked around for a moment. “You can’t do that!! You can’t just _buy me a restaurant!!”_

“Why… why not?”

“Because it’s too much!!”

“Says the woman who gave me Kryptonite.”

“That was different!!” Kara exclaimed, looking bewildered. “I was making a point!! And that only cost me a trip to Metropolis and an argument with Clark!! You can’t just throw money at problems and-”

“I’m sorry, okay?!!” Lena exclaimed and Kara seemed to be momentarily stunned by the increased volume of her voice and her desperate look. And Lena once again felt her embarrassment rise to the surface at the fact she couldn’t contain her emotions around the woman. At the fact that despite her best efforts to maintain her poise and her dignity, she could now feel her eyes start to burn. “I’m sorry if I’m not normal and if I don’t know how to apologise!! But… but I’ve already lost too many people… and…” Lena swallowed, feeling self-conscious at bringing up her past and thinking about it later, she would conclude that it was all dr. Talbot’s fault, “…and I just panic sometimes, all right?” She swallowed again as she looked nervously at Kara’s beautiful blue eyes. “When I feel like I’m losing you… I panic,” she finished weakly. To be honest, considering her previous reactions to Kara being in danger, buying a restaurant was a step forward for her. But that was definitely _one_ thing she was never going to bring up.

“Lena…” the alien woman stepped forward and suddenly wrapped her in a hug, and yep, there it was. That familiar feeling of safety whenever Kara even just brushed fingers with her. That warm glowing feeling in her chest that reached for her extremities and made her heart go a million miles a minute. “…I’m not going anywhere, silly.” She stepped back and gave Lena that understanding blue-eyed look, and Lena wondered how only Kara managed to make it look like it wasn’t pity. “Even if we fight sometimes… I’m not going anywhere, alright?”

“Okay,” Lena muttered softly, looking at the floor and feeling highly self-conscious about her needy behaviour.

“And do you know why?”

Lena looked up, seeing Kara give her a broad grin, with some Maggie-like mischief in her eyes. “Why?” she asked slowly.

_“Because you’ve got a friend in me…”_

Lena involuntarily huffed out a laugh and shook her head.

_“You got a friend in me…”_

“Please Kara, not the singing again,” Lena sighed, although she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

_“When the road looks rough aheeeeead, and your miiiiiles and miiiiiles from-”_

Kara abruptly shut her mouth at the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat behind Lena. When the young CEO turned around, she saw the chef standing on the doorstep of the kitchen with an unsure expression. “Are, um… are the bosses ready to eat now?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Lorenzo, I think we are.” Lena gave the man a small nod as he retreated back into the kitchen to get their food. When she turned back to Kara, the woman was giving her a surprised look.

“Bosses?” Kara asked curiously.

“Well… technically both our names are on the papers…” she waved dismissively, “…but it doesn’t matter, I can hire someone to run it and you won’t have to worry about it.” Lena was nervous that she was going to get reprimanded again for buying a restaurant, but instead Kara gave her that curious look from before. That almost wondrous look, as if she was seeing Lena for the first time.

“You’re really something else, you know that?”

“Um… thanks?” Lena said unsurely.

The woman didn’t say anything else to explain that statement, as their food was promptly delivered to their table. They didn’t come back to the subject at any point though their dinner, nor did they dwell on the fact that they now both owned the establishment where they were eating. Everything seemed to be as usual. Everything was the same as before. It was almost as if their fight had never happened, except for one curious thing that Lena noticed. She kept catching Kara giving her that same curious, almost wondrous look she’d seen before, before the woman would suddenly blink and refocus on her food. It was just a little thing, and Lena didn’t think too much of it. Because as long as Kara was still here, Lena would take it. As long as Kara was here, everything was alright.

Meanwhile, across the table Kara was slightly distracted. She tried to focus on her food but her eyes kept wandering to Lena all the time, and she had to snap out of it several times when she realised that she’d been staring. But it was just really strange. I mean, Lena was talking about one of her latest projects, smiling widely while she did so, and Kara couldn’t help but wonder. She couldn’t help but wonder…

…had Lena always looked that gorgeous when she smiled?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never actually read a fic dealing with the fact that Lena is a scientist in love with a religious girl, so I figured I'd touch on it.
> 
> Kara's vocals are courtesy of my sister.
> 
> Next week: We take our first big step away from canon.


	5. Mesut El Habash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During and after Supergirl 3x05

_****October 5 th 2017_

Lena felt like someone was bouncing a hammer off her skull.

She groaned as she slowly forced her eyes open, briefly panicking when she didn’t immediately recognise her surroundings. Then she remembered the sick children. She remembered the several bottles of wine. As she slowly lifted her head from the couch, everything came flooding back to her. All the reasons why she was sleeping on Jess’s couch while wearing the woman’s Metropolis University sweatshirt, suddenly all came back. Right… there were poisoned children… and it could very well be her fault. _Where did I leave that bottle again?_ She was just struggling to move into a seated position on the couch, when a vague memory suddenly screamed for attention at the back of her mind. Oh… right. Kara had been here…

Lena groaned again as she held her head, the thumping in her temple stubbornly persisting, as she tried to remember what they had talked about. Something about the lead poisoning… something about Kara believing in her… Lena shook her head, as she gave up on trying to decipher the blurry memories. She could ask Kara about it later. You know, assuming that she’d still want to hang out with a child-killer. Lena let out another groan as she realised that she’d probably made a spectacle of herself in front of the woman. I mean, she already had trouble containing her emotions around those honest blue eyes when she was sober, let alone after several bottles of well-seasoned wine.

She should probably reimburse Jess for those…

Lena flinched as the hammer bouncing off her skull returned out of nowhere, but now that she was slightly more awake, she suddenly recognised it for the knocking on the front door that it was. Lena very carefully moved from the couch to Jess’s front door, wincing at the loud knocks that reverberated through her hungover head as she looked through the eyehole. She was surprised to see Maggie’s irritated-looking face on the other side, then carefully opened the door. Before she could open her mouth, however, the detective was already barging past her.

“I checked up on your stalking victims, Luthor.”

“Come in,” Lena proclaimed sarcastically, while Maggie was already headed for the table. “Don’t take your shoes off, or anything…” Lena fell silent as a burly man suddenly followed the detective into the apartment. He didn’t even greet her as he just walked right past her and stood with his hands in his pockets behind the detective, who had taken a seat at the table and was looking at Lena expectantly. The youngest Luthor slowly closed the door and approached the table while giving the unknown man a suspicious look. She’d put him at about five foot ten and maybe around thirty years old, and she noticed his brown skin that contrasted with his simple white T-shirt, but the thing that stood out to her the most was the man’s nose, which had obviously been broken at some point. Or at least she hoped it had been. Because someone being born like that just seemed cruel.

“Right,” Maggie started, all business, “so Daniel Potts is the most boring guy on the planet. I checked his bank account and his phone records, but nothing seemed suspicious. He has no criminal record, not even a parking ticket, and absolutely nothing that could connect him to Roulette, as far as I can tell.” Lena’s eyes widened slightly as she darted them between the detective and the man who was now yawning behind the seated woman, but Maggie just carried on. “Blake Vardy is your average frat boy and just by saying that, I’m already wasting too many words on him, in my humble opinion. Meryl Evans was slightly more problematic; her bank and phone records are in order, but I couldn’t track her down. Then I get a call from a colleague who asked about her at the diner she was supposed to work at -I thought it would be safer if I didn’t go in person- but apparently she skipped town or something. And as far as I can tell, neither of them is being followed by anyone who’s actually alive.” Maggie frowned as she looked up at Lena’s concerned expression. “Don’t worry,” she reassured her. “I told my colleague that she might be a witness in a burglary, and now she’s just being treated as a regular missing person. No one suspects about the ghost thing-”

“Maggie!” Lena exclaimed incredulously, as she kept darting her eyes between the loose-lipped detective and the man behind her, who looked highly disinterested. “Who’s your friend?!”

“Huh?” Maggie frowned in confusion as she looked behind her, where the man appeared to realise that he was being scrutinised. Maggie turned back around. “What are you talking about, Luthor?”

Lena’s eyes widened, as did those of the man, because they simultaneously realised what was going on.

“You’re a ghost!”

“You can see me!”

Lena’s brain might be slightly hungover, but it was quickly realising the gravity of the situation, while Maggie looked incredulously at the space behind her and the man just seemed terribly excited. “Ay, what a small world!!” He laughed loudly, Lena wincing at the sound, as he stepped forward with an outstretched hand and a broad grin. “It’s great to meet you!! My name is Mesut!! I can’t believe you’re actually friends with detective Maggie!! Miss Roulette never mentioned-”

“Mesut…” Lena was breathing heavily, as she held up her hand to make the man stop his rambling. “Mesut… did Roulette tell you to follow Maggie?” she asked warily.

“Oh, yes, yes,” he nodded his head, still looking between the two women enthusiastically, as if this was a barbecue between friends. “She said I had to tell her everything that-”

“Shit!!”

Maggie groaned upon seeing Lena’s reaction. “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

Mesut looked confused as Maggie kept cursing under her breath and Lena was holding her head while looking for a way out of this mess. Because Roulette might be about to find out… she might be about to find out that they had been trying to follow her trail…

“Mesut… you can’t tell her…” she gave the ghost in front of her a pleading look, “…you can’t tell her Maggie talked to me. Or- or that she checked up on Daniel Potts, Blake Vardy and Meryl Evans.”

Mesut just gave her a confused frown. “But… why?”

“Because she can’t know we’re trying to find out what she’s up to!” Lena exclaimed, feeling her panic start to rise.

“Why… why is that so important?” Mesut asked, still appearing confused.

Lena groaned in frustration. “Because if she finds out, she’ll try to make me lose my mind by telling every ghost in town about me.” Lena inhaled briefly through her nose as she suddenly realised she had a valuable argument at her disposal. “And if that happens I won’t be able to help you!”

Mesut just frowned at her, before looking suspiciously between the young CEO and Maggie. “Okay, seriously, why does everyone think I need help? This is starting to get offensive.”

“What… what do you mean you don’t need help?” Lena asked confused. “Surely you don’t want to be a ghost forever?”

“Why not? Being a ghost is pretty cool.”

“Wait, wait,” Lena sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, because she could feel her hangover-headache starting to get amplified by the umpteenth break in ghost protocol. “If you don’t want my help, then why are you following Roulette’s orders?”

“Well… when she asked, almost everyone agreed… and I didn’t really want to be left out…”

Lena sighed very deeply as she rubbed her temple, because there went the only kind of leverage she might have had. Being hungover was definitely not helping her, but she was pretty sure that even in a more sober state there wouldn’t have been any other solution. She was going to have to beg. She was going to have to beg this random stranger to let her keep her sanity.

“So what the hell is happening?!” Maggie interjected. “Am I one of Roulette’s stalking victims now?!”

Lena sighed, as she darted her eyes between the ghost and the detective. “That’s what it looks like…” The hammer made a brief return to Lena’s skull, as Maggie shot up and kicked one of the chairs over in frustration, and it clattered loudly when it collided with the floor.

“Well, that’s just great!! Obviously I didn’t have enough shit going on, did I?!”

Lena briefly scrunched her eyes closed, waiting for the sharp pain in her temple to subside, before giving Maggie a worried frown. “Are… are you and Alex still having problems or…” Lena kept looking at the other woman with raised eyebrows, but it would seem she was refusing to respond, just crossing her arms and scowling at the floor.

“Ha… you could say that,” Mesut commented, as Lena blinked in surprise while turning back towards the ghost. “I’m pretty sure they were about to break up before that other cop called her,” he explained.

Lena’s eyes went wide as she felt a sting in her chest while looking back at Maggie with concern. “You and Alex are breaking up?” she asked incredulously.

“Wha-” Maggie briefly turned her head to look behind her, where Mesut was no longer standing. “Seriously, dude?!” She let her eyes go around the room, apparently determined to give the ghost a foul look at revealing that information. “Well, this is just creepy! But, hey, at least I won’t be alone, right?!” she exclaimed sarcastically as she continued searching the room with her eyes, her anger still very evident in her voice. “At least I’ll have some weird-ass ghost to keep me company!”

“Hey…” Mesut frowned, looking mildly offended, but Lena stepped closer to her friend, feeling her concern increase.

“Maggie, what happened?” she asked, not sure when the thought of Alex and Maggie splitting up had started causing her such distress. She kept looking at the detective, but the woman was just crossing her arms and had returned looking at the floor, still stubbornly refusing to speak. “Maggie… talk to me. What-”

“I don’t want to talk about it!!”

“But, Maggie-”

“Oh, screw this!!” Maggie suddenly marched towards the front door. “If I wanted to be interrogated, I could have just stayed home!!” Lena flinched, the sound of the door slamming shut reverberating through her brain. She closed her eyes as she briefly held her aching head. She really wanted to go after  her. She really wanted to make sure Maggie was alright. And also, she wanted to know what happened so she would have sufficient verbal ammunition when she tore Alex a new one. Instead, she decided that her main priority should be to maintain her sanity, so she opened her eyes to try and reason with Mesut. Only to find that the man was already headed for the door.

“Wait!!” Lena rushed forward, urging the ghost who held the key to her sanity to stop. “You can't tell her!! You can't tell Roulette-”

“I'm sorry miss Lena, but I promised to follow her.”

“But-” Just like that, the ghostly man turned around and stepped through the closed door, leaving Lena gaping at it on the other side.

It was over.

It was all over.

Roulette was going to find out about her investigation into the woman's plans, every ghost in National City was going to be standing on her doorstep, and she could say goodbye to her life as she knew it. Lena held her head as she stumbled back towards the couch and laid down on it. She could feel the throbbing in her temple start to subside, and she suddenly wished she could have it back. Because a slight hangover was going to seem like heaven once her head would be filled with the voices of countless different ghosts. Like Corben, times a hundred. Good god… As Lena dropped her arm to the side, she felt her fingertips brush against a smooth object under the couch. She frowned as she grasped the object, but let out a satisfied sigh when she pulled it out and realised what it was. It was a wine bottle. And it wasn't completely empty.

Well… time to see if insanity looks better when you're drunk.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Lena’s legs were still wobbly as she made her way through the streets of National City.

Because almost dying in a plane crash apparently had side effects.

The fact that that arrogant asshole had almost killed her was already concerning. That after surviving attacks from Lillian and Lex Luthor, she’d almost kicked the bucket because of _Morgan Edge_ of all people, was pretty unnerving. But Lena wasn’t concerned about that right now. What she was concerned about was Kara. Because after dropping half a plane with toxic chemicals in an empty docking area and after carefully depositing Lena at a safe distance from the wreckage, Kara had acted very strangely. She’d been breathing very heavily, which was already unusual, and she wouldn’t turn to face Lena no matter how many times she asked if she was alright. Instead she just shot up into the sky after a few seconds, leaving Lena to wonder what was wrong with her best friend.

Lena didn’t even look at Andy the security guard as she barged into CatCo, because this was starting to get ridiculous. Kara wasn’t answering her phone, she wasn’t at her apartment, according to Winn she wasn’t at the DEO and Lena’s legs, besides being wobbly, were now also sore after walking all the way up and down the city. Because apparently Trevor couldn’t be bothered to do his job anymore. Lena had just reached the top floor, stepping into the glass-walled workspace and realising that Kara being here was probably a long shot, but unfortunately she was running out of ideas. She walked through the empty office, the lights already dimmed low, as she headed past the deserted cubicles, past the guy standing on his head and past the printer area while… wait, what?

Lena stopped in her tracks, turning on the spot to see that there was indeed someone standing on their head. “Mesut?!”

The upside down figure fell over in surprise, making no noise on impact, before recognising Lena and scurrying to his feet. “Miss Lena! You're here! I thought I was gonna have to wait until morning.”

The youngest Luthor blinked in surprise. “You came back for me?” 

“Well yeah,” Mesut responded. “I mean, the rules are that I have to follow Maggie until she goes to sleep and she just passed out in some bar, so…” he shrugged, “I just thought I'd come back and talk. You said miss Roulette was doing something bad?” he asked with a frown.

“Wait…” Lena incredulously let her eyes go over the man's face, “so you didn't tell Roulette what Maggie and I talked about yet?” The man shook his head and Lena felt immediate relief washing over her at the thought of maintaining her sanity for at least a little while longer. “Good… that's good…” Lena nodded to herself, but Mesut looked confused.

“I still don't understand what your problem is with her,” he asked.

Lena scoffed at that. “Well, for starters there's the threat of driving me insane delivered right to my face. Also the fact that she’s trying to do something illegal, otherwise she could've just asked for my help instead of going through all this trouble to keep me in the dark.” Lena crossed her arms as she huffed out a breath. “You know, just in case owning an alien fight club wasn't bad enough.”

Mesut's frown grew deeper. “Fight club?”

Lena's eyebrows raised in disbelief as she looked at the man's confused face. “Yes,” she drawled, “you know… the place that blew up?”

“That's what that was?!” The man's eyes widened, as he looked completely taken aback by this information. 

“How did you not know that?”

“It- it was my first day,” the man stammered, “I was just told that some fancy lady needed a janitor for something. Although I spent most of the morning being a cleaning lady; that place was a mess.” He chuckled in disbelief, but then his eyes suddenly went wide again. “Oh, no… well shit, now I feel really bad.” He huffed out a breath and explained further upon seeing Lena's questioning expression: “I might have… let someone in before the explosion,” he confessed. “You know, she wanted to get out of the rain and everything, but… she was an alien.” The man audibly swallowed. “That would've ended badly, wouldn't it?”

“Yes,” Lena agreed, “it probably would have.” She cleared her throat, partially distracted by the information about ghosts yet to come, but Mesut spoke up again. 

“So, what exactly do you need me to do?”

“I just need you to omit anything that involves me, or anything that Maggie and I are doing to uncover Roulette's plans,” Lena explained intently. “Also, if you could try and figure out why exactly she's interested in Maggie. Maybe see what information she focusses on?” 

“Well…” the man looked unsure, “I can do the whole omitting part, but miss Roulette usually wants to know every last detail of her day, so… I don't know if I'll figure out which part is important to her.”

Lena smiled as she breathed out, because having Mesut's cooperation was already more than she could've hoped for. “That's fine,” she reassured the ghostly man, “we'll go over the details tomorrow, but…” Lena fell silent as she suddenly caught sight of a light coming from behind the corner amidst the partial darkness of the office. “Mesut,” she started unsurely, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be looking for Kara, “is someone still here?”

“Oh, yeah, I saw someone in the big office earlier…” Lena immediately moved in that direction, as checking on Kara suddenly became her top priority again. “So we’ll talk tomorrow?” Mesut yelled after her. Lena just gave him a nod over her shoulder before rounding the corner and stepping towards Cat Grant's former office. She slowed down, however, when she noticed who the late worker was. James Olsen was apparently fighting to keep his eyes open, as he stared at the piece of paper in the one hand that wasn’t confined by a sling.

“James…” she frowned as she stepped into the office and the man looked up from his  desk, “…I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“Well, the news never sleeps,” he sighed, visibly tired. He briefly rubbed his eyes before looking Lena over. “Were you just… talking to yourself?”

“No, um… there was a ghost,” she vaguely motioned to the office space behind her. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Kara is, would you?”

“No, I-”

Lena sighed as she rubbed her eyes. “It’s fine, I’ll just try somewhere else.” She was just about to turn around when James stood up from his seat.

“Wait! Um…” Lena halted her movements, as James rounded the desk to lean against the other side with his one free hand in his pocket. “I just wanted to apologise to you.”

Lena’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “Apologise?” she asked incredulously. “For taking care of CatCo when I temporarily stepped down, or for saving Jess’s life from a stray bullet?” She pointedly looked at the man’s left arm, which was still confined by a black sling after the incident.

“Well, when you put it like that…” he chuckled nervously, but quickly turned serious again. “I just meant… those people at your press conference. When you and Jess almost got shot…” he swallowed, seemingly nervous, which was an unusual look on him, “…I used to be like them.” Lena crossed her arms, not sure what that meant, but James quickly elaborated: “Back when I didn’t know you, before Winn told me that you helped Jimmy, I was like them; I just assumed you shouldn’t be trusted based on your last name.” He gave her a nervous smile, and Lena was surprised by his honesty. “And then when your mother kidnapped you, I kept insisting that Kara shouldn’t trust you and that I was sure you’d joined Cadmus. I mean… I know better now, obviously, but… seeing all those people screaming and yelling at you… it was kind of like looking into a mirror of how I used to think about you. So… I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For judging you when I had no right to.”

Lena huffed out a soft laugh as she shook her head. “While I appreciate that, James, I try not to live in the past.” She gave the man a small smile. “Whatever you used to think of me, today is a new day. And today, you’re the man who saved Jess’s life, so the way I see it I should be thanking you for that. Which reminds me…”

She swallowed nervously, because this was not a topic she enjoyed discussing. But considering James’s honesty, she figured she should return the favour. Also, she was kind of supposed to say the things she was grateful for out loud. _Not now, Talbot!!_

“…I realised that I never actually thanked you. You know… for… for saving _my_ life…”

She pointedly looked to the side, steadily avoiding eye contact as James just hummed in response. “Well…” he started hesitantly, “…you know… Maggie and Winn helped too…”

“Yes, I know. But having this conversation once is awkward enough, so let’s just pretend they didn’t.”

That actually caused a laugh to escape James’s lips, and he looked embarrassed about it immediately after, which in turn caused Lena to laugh at the face he made. They just stood there laughing at each other, before their laughter died down and Lena decided that it was time to resume her search for Kara. Before she could say as much, however, James spoke up again.

“There’s actually something I think you should have.” He started undoing his watch, slowly, so he didn’t move the shoulder with a bullet hole in it too much, and extended it towards Lena. “This is a signal, to call Supergirl when you’re in danger. I used to have one to call Superman back in Metropolis, but… I think you need it more than I do. Besides, Kara actually got mad at me last time when I used it for non-Supergirl reasons.” He chuckled briefly, but Lena frowned as she looked at the watch in the man’s hand.

“You think I need it more than you do?” she asked slowly. “I’m sorry, but last I checked, _I_ wasn’t the one going around beating up criminals as a vigilante,” she quirked a teasing eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know, but…” he gave her an encouraging smile, “…Winn’s been telling me about your, um… adventures. His words, not mine,” he quickly explained upon seeing Lena’s face. “Maybe fighting crime isn’t exactly the safest of pastimes, but I can take care of myself. But if you and Winn are ever in a tight spot… I’d like to know that you have back-up.” He kept smiling as he extended the watch closer, but Lena wasn’t too sure if she wanted it.

Having the power to summon Supergirl was certainly convenient, but who was she to call on Kara whenever she wanted? Who was she to disturb an actual hero while she fumbled her way around, trying to help spirits? Lena was about to decline the offer, but then she was reminded of something. She was suddenly reminded of Roulette, and her ominous promise to have Lena do something for her. And if the woman really wanted to make her do something illegal… if she was going to order her to steal something or god forbid… actually… kill someone… then it would be very convenient if Supergirl would just happen to be in the neighbourhood to stop her. Kara could stop Lena from doing anything illegal… and Roulette wouldn’t suspect foul play… Of course that would also lead to Kara asking inconvenient questions, but if the alternative was murder then it wasn’t really a choice. This probably wasn’t a permanent solution to the Roulette situation, but considering the circumstances, Lena decided to take it.

“Thank you,” she smiled as she took the watch from him and examined it closely. “I suppose using it right now would make her mad again, wouldn’t it?” she chuckled.

“I think that’s pretty much guaranteed,” James agreed.

“Well… if you hear from Kara you’ll let me know?” The man nodded at her and Lena gave him a smile as she started turning around.  “Well… goodnight then, James.”

The man returned her greeting, then Lena left the office. She shook her head as she rounded the corner towards the hall, not quite sure where to look for Kara next. She had  just finished putting on her new watch and she was just approaching the elevator, when someone stepped out of it. Lena froze in surprise as she watched the familiar face step towards the workspace with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

“Jess?” she asked incredulously.

“Ms. Luthor!” Jess stopped in her tracks, seeming just as surprised to see her boss here. They both stood still for a beat. “You’re… you’re here…” she stammered and Lena frowned at the woman, because Jess hardly ever looked this uncertain. “So me and Ms. Danvers cleared your name!” Jess suddenly proclaimed. “That’s… great, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Lena drawled, still frowning at Jess wo was fiddling with her batch of flowers. “What are you doing here?”

“Well… I just thought… you know, Mr. Olsen saved my life, so…” she sheepishly nodded at the flowers in her hands, as Lena’s eyebrows shot up.

“Oh.” Lena had to try very hard to suppress a smirk, as she stepped to the side. “Well, don’t let me stop you.”

Her former assistant just nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, as she walked past her and in the direction of James’s office. Lena maybe lingered near the elevator a little longer than necessary, as she strained her ears and heard her CFO proclaim that she had a rule that whenever someone takes a bullet for her, they get to call her Jess. There was more to the conversation, but when Lena heard Jessica Freakin’ Huang start giggling (yes, the woman actually giggled), she decided it was time to go.

Lena actually greeted Andy on the way out this time, as she walked out of the revolving doors and let out a long sigh as she looked over the empty streets. It was very well possible that Kara was just handling some other Supergirl crisis, but it didn’t stop her from worrying all the same. Lena took out her phone and upon seeing that Kara hadn’t responded to her messages, she really just felt like pressing the button on her new watch and instantly make sure whether Kara was alright or not. She thought better of it though, understanding the responsibility of having Supergirl at your call, and decided to just wait this one out. She reluctantly started walking towards the bus stop (because lord knows she had completely lost faith in Trevor at this point), but she was startled by a loud voice coming from behind her.

“Hey, you!!” Lena turned on the spot and was confronted with Alex Danvers appearing at the end of the street, as the secret agent marched up to her with an angry scowl on her face. “Where the hell is my sister?!”

Lena frowned at the woman who came to a stop just inches away from her, and she felt blessed at having years of practice at maintaining her poise and her dignity. Because Alex Danvers getting up in her face with that expression was one of the most intimidating sights she had ever seen. “I was just looking for her,” Lena drawled slowly, while carefully taking in the secret agent’s face. She looked angry, but probably not as concerned as she would have been if Kara was in direct danger. So that was something. “Is she alright?” she tried to probe.

Alex just scoffed, finally taking one step back and putting a civil amount of space between them. “That is honestly none of your damn business,” she snarled, and Lena frowned deeply because she felt that lines were being crossed here. “If you see her, you contact me immediately, do you understand?” The secret agent went to walk away, but Lena finally snapped. Perhaps it was the annoying finger Alex waved at her with that last statement, or perhaps it was just the frustration at being treated with such dismissal again after James had done exactly the opposite, or perhaps it was the resentment she felt towards the woman for having the audacity to break up with Maggie. But whatever the reason, Lena couldn’t stop her frustration from flowing out of her right now.

“You know, I thought you’d be smarter,” Lena stated slowly, her tone dropping to glacial temperatures, as Alex stopped to look back at her. “I thought that the mighty Alex Danvers actually had half a brain, but apparently I was wrong,” Lena continued, now being the one to step closer to the still scowling agent, while giving the woman one of her more intense glares. “I usually trust Kara’s judgement, but I can see now she only talks you up because you’re her sister. Are you really that blind?” Lena asked, now shaking her head at the agent who had turned to face her completely. “Are you really so wrapped up in your distrust, that you still think of me as just another Luthor?! Is your head really so far up your own ass that you still think you need to treat me as an enemy?!”

Alex crossed her arms and shook her head as she laughed at her. It sounded condescending to Lena’s ears and quite frankly she didn’t like it. “Do I look like an idiot?” Alex retorted, and oh yes, that was definitely condescension. “I might be stubborn but I’m not blind, Ms. Luthor. I’ve seen you save National City way too many times to think that you’re secretly trying to exterminate all aliens.”

Lena’s cold stare turned suspicious as she glanced the woman over. “Then why are you-”

“Because I don’t like what you’re doing to my sister!!” the secret agent barked and Lena was completely taken aback by that, as Alex looked like she was finally spitting out something that she’d been keeping inside for a long time. “She begged me for _weeks_ to give her my blessing to tell you her secret!! She kept telling me over, and over, and over, how good you were and how we should all just trust you!!” Alex breathed heavily, as she continued her rant. “And then when she finally goes to tell you who she is, she vanishes!! Then, after the longest 24 hours of my life, she finally shows her face again and claims that nothing happened but I know my little sister, Luthor!! I can tell when she’s lying and more importantly, I can tell when she’s been crying!! I don’t know what you said to her back then, and I don’t know what you did to her tonight!! All I know is that an hour ago she flew into my apartment in the middle of a panic attack and was only saying your name over and over again, before flying away with no reasonable explanation!!” Alex breathed in and out a few times, apparently trying to control her anger, while Lena felt her heart constrict at the thought of Kara being in distress for some reason. “So no, Ms. Luthor,” Alex lowered the volume of her voice, which somehow sounded more menacing than her shouting. “I’m not stupid. I don’t think you’re some evil mastermind. But I’m not a fan of how you keep hurting Kara, so let me tell you that quite frankly I just don’t like you.”

Lena just stood there for a second after the woman was done venting her frustration. But after processing everything, and after putting her concern for Kara to the back of her mind, she levelled the woman with a cold glare. “Thank you for your honesty,” she said, returning to her glacial tone. “But since you’ve told me what you really think of me… allow me to return the favour.” A brief flash of confusion flashed across Alex’s face, as Lena kept trying to stare a hole through her. “You’re a lousy girlfriend.”

Alex’s eyes went wide with indignation. “Excuse m-”

“You heard me just fine,” Lena interrupted, as Alex kept giving her an incredulous look. “If you want to talk about hurting people, then we might as well talk about how you’re hurting Maggie. You claim not to be stupid, but actually blaming your girlfriend for not being able to find your father is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Lena watched as the woman’s expression momentarily softened at the mention of her girlfriend. “What… no…” Alex blinked in confusion as the anger washed from her face, “…of course I don’t blame her…”

“Then maybe you should be looking for her instead of Kara, because clearly that’s what she thinks.” She let her eyes go over the agent from top to bottom. “And if she showed up to my office in tears, you clearly did _something_ to make her think that. So come on, let’s hear it, Ms. Righteousness. Why would you drive your girlfriend away to the point that she’s crying her eyes out to me, because she thinks that you don’t want to get married anymore?” Alex crossed her arms defensively and looked to the side, as she didn’t respond immediately. “Oh my god…” Lena huffed out an incredulous breath. “You _actually_ thought she was cheating on you, didn’t you?!” Lena shook her head and glanced at the agent with disdain, as Alex looked back up at her. “Well, obviously you don’t know the first thing about Maggie. And as far as I’m concerned, you don’t deserve her.” Lena straightened her jacket as she gave Alex one last foul look. “If you see Kara tell her I’m worried about her.”

With that she turned around, not waiting for Alex to respond as she started taking long strides in the direction of her apartment, as if every step needed to convey her anger.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

After a long bus ride, and after taking the elevator up to her penthouse, Lena finally felt her exhaustion catching up with her. Being accused of poisoning children, getting shot at, getting drunk and getting saved from a plane crash all in the same day would make anyone tired, she supposed. She turned her key whilst in the middle of a yawn, but as she opened her door and flicked on the lights she abruptly shut her mouth. There, sitting on her couch in full Supergirl outfit, was Kara. The woman had her arms crossed and her eyes shot up to meet her as soon as she stepped inside. Lena instinctively smiled as she shut the door, but it quickly faded when she stepped closer and saw that Kara’s expression wasn’t all that friendly. Well, maybe not _unfriendly_ either, but it seemed like she wasn’t sure what to do with her.

“Kara, I’ve… I’ve been looking all over for you.” She stepped closer and looked the woman over with concern. “Are you alright?”

“Am I alright?” Kara asked, and Lena was slightly taken aback by her cold tone. “Of course I’m not alright!” Kara kept looking at her with a strange mixture of hurt and accusation, and Lena wasn’t sure what to make of it. The alien woman kept her arms crossed as she stood up from the couch. “Save the chemicals?” Kara mimicked. “Let me go?” Kara’s voice cracked, and Lena felt an overwhelming urge to kiss the sorrow off those trembling lips, but this was clearly not the time for her misguided romantic fantasies. “Why in Rao’s name would you say that?!” Kara exclaimed. “Why would you… just…” the woman struggled to form words, and Lena wasn’t sure if it was more due to her anger or her distress, “…what is _wrong_ with you?!”

Lena opened and closed her mouth a few times, slightly taken aback by that accusation. But hey, at least she was more direct about it than dr. Talbot. She could already feel the guilt starting to eat away at her, because she couldn’t tell the woman the whole truth. She couldn’t tell her that she thought Mesut was going to spill her secrets to Roulette. She couldn’t tell her that she thought she was going to lose her mind to the cold grasp of insanity anyway, and that she might as well give herself up in one last heroic gesture rather than face all that. But she couldn’t tell her about that. So instead, she focused on the practical side of things.

“Kara, I… it was only logical.” Lena swallowed nervously as the alien woman’s offence only seemed to grow. “If you had dropped those chemicals, the entire city’s water supply would’ve been poisoned. The soil could have been ruined for generations to come, I just… I was thinking of the bigger picture. I mean… some things are bigger than just me. Some things are more important than my life…”

“NO, THEY’RE NOT!!”

Kara stepped forward, getting face to face with the youngest Luthor, and Lena shuddered for a moment. Because despite being worried about Kara’s current distressed state, and despite knowing she would never hurt her, the sight of Supergirl getting in her face with such intensity in her eyes was still slightly overwhelming. She felt a shiver go down her spine and maybe the elevated rate of her heart right now was due to that intimidating sight. It didn’t quite explain the sudden heat concentrating below her stomach, but she couldn’t focus on that right now. She had to make Kara calm down. Lena had to actively refrain herself from using perfectly rational arguments that explained why the long-term health of every citizen and their future grandchildren was definitely more important than one businesswoman’s life. Instead Lena tried to formulate a calm response to put Kara at ease, but the woman didn’t give her the chance. Kara suddenly grasped both her hands and brought them up between them, effectively pressing Lena closer to her, and Lena’s eyes fluttered as she was suddenly very close to Kara’s face.

“You think you’re the only one that panics?” Kara asked softly, her voice still wavering. “You think you’re the only one that freaks out when they feel like they’re losing someone important?”

Lena opened her mouth but was unable to form words, because Kara was way too close. Her face was way too close, her eyes were too beautiful, her stare was too intense and the pleading tone of her voice was too heart breaking.

“Promise me,” Kara suddenly said, more firmly now. “Promise me you’ll never do something like that again.”

“I…”

Lena’s breath caught in her throat. She wanted to be reasonable; wanted to explain that she couldn’t control these type of situations. That she couldn’t in good conscience promise that she would choose her own life over the well-being of the entire city in a similar scenario. But the words just wouldn’t come out. The logical side of her brain was once again being silenced. It was silenced by the emotions that only Kara seemed to be able to pull out of her. It was silenced, because apparently four months of therapy were less effective than Kara standing this close and looking at her this intently. Because the effect that Kara seemed to have on her was a puzzle even more complicated than that stupid Daxam Drive. Because as it turns out… Lena would do anything for Kara.

Even stay alive.

 

“I promise.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The skies of National City were clear tonight.

Thanks to Supergirl they were also void of crashing planes, but the Kryptonian herself was also not present in the city’s airspace right now. Instead, she was pacing behind her sister’s couch, worrying at her lip as she really wanted to go home and finally take off her Supersuit and get some sleep. After confronting Lena just now, and making her promise that she wouldn’t be so reckless anymore, she felt slightly better. But only slightly, because the sight of Lena looking up at her and telling her to let her go was something she still struggled to get out of her mind. She hoped she wouldn’t start having those nightmares again. I mean, their replacement was definitely better… No, wait, that was a weird thing to think. I mean, obviously it was a lot better than watching Lena die, but they were still weird. And it would probably be best if those dreams stopped too. You know… eventually…

Kara shook her head, as she briefly refocused her eyes on the door of Alex’s apartment, then continued to pace behind the couch. She’d expected to just fly through the window, assure Alex that she was really alright and take off again, but her sister wasn’t home and now she wasn’t sure what to do. She was just debating whether she should just let Alex be worried until tomorrow morning (she was _really_ tired, okay!), but just as that thought popped into her head she heard a key turning in the lock. Kara sighed with relief as she turned towards the door.

“Finally! I’ve been…” she fell silent as an indiscernible entanglement of limbs made its way through the door. Kara turned red as she realised that the blob of humanity was actually Alex and Maggie with their faces glued together at the lips, while their hands feverishly went over the other’s body, apparently unaware of the Superhero standing in their living room. A stray foot appeared to kick the door closed, although she was pretty sure that was by accident. Kara was pulled out of her shock when jackets were starting to get ripped off, while somehow never pulling their faces apart.

“Um… guys?” Kara questioned. There was an inelegant slurping sound, as Alex and Maggie finally unlocked their lips and noticed Kara standing there. Maggie slowly lowered Alex’s shirt, which she’d been in the middle of taking off of her.

“Hey… Kara,” Alex said breathlessly. “You’re here.”

“Yeah…” Kara just blinked at her sister, while nobody moved for a few seconds. “Are you two… okay now, or…”

“We’re fine,” Maggie offered, sounding equally breathless.

“We’re great,” Alex agreed.

“More than great.”

“The wedding’s back on.”

“Alex doesn’t hate me.”

“Maggie isn’t cheating on me.”

“I still can’t believe you thought that.”

“I’m so sorry.”

The two promptly reconnected their lips, and Kara just nervously cleared her throat. “Okay, I guess I’ll just…” she sheepishly headed for the window, but Maggie called after her.

“Wait…” Kara turned around, and the detective seemed nervous as she darted her eyes between the two sisters. “There’s actually, um… something I need to ask you…” she briefly tucked Alex’s hair behind her ear, before looking at Kara, “…and it kind of concerns you too, little Danvers.” Kara gave a small frown as she stepped closer to the two women who were still holding on to each other. Both Danvers sisters’ eyes widened however, when Maggie suddenly got on her knees.

“Maggie, what-”

The detective silenced her fiancée by holding up her hand, and she swallowed as she looked up at her. “Don’t interrupt me on this one, Danvers, otherwise I’m gonna lose my train of thought.” She took a deep breath as she looked into Alex’s eyes, all the while holding her hands, before starting to speak. “So… you know that my relationship with my parents was… complicated to say the least. After they kicked me out I was never sure where I belonged, and… my aunt did the best she could, obviously, but it was never the same, you know? I haven’t felt like I belonged somewhere in a long time. At least until I met you.” She smiled nervously, before forcing herself to continue. “Family has always been complicated for me, but you always make it seem so easy.” She huffed out a breath as she shook her head. “And I know I’m probably making a bigger deal out of this than I should, but it means a lot to me, so… if you would do me this one favour… and if it’s alright with Kara, of course, would you… would you let me take your last name?”

There was a brief pause as nobody moved, or breathed, but then Alex was suddenly also on her knees in front of the other woman. “Of course you can!” The older Danvers sister hugged Maggie close as the detective let out a shaky breath and threw a glance at Kara who was still observing the scene in mild shock.

“I mean, if… if Kara doesn’t mind, of course…”

“Kara doesn’t mind!” Alex interjected, before the Superhero could even open her mouth. Alex pulled Maggie to her feet, never letting go of her hands, as she gave her sister an intent look. “Right?!” she urged.

“Oh!” Kara shook her head, as she was pulled out of her surprised state. “Yes… I mean no! No, obviously I don’t mind, don’t be silly.” She laughed as she stepped closer to the two women. “This calls for a group hug!!”

“This is actually more of a private… yeah, okay.” Alex gave up on protesting, as Kara had already wrapped the both of them in a very firm hug. Maggie just snickered in amusement, as Alex fondly rolled her eyes.

“But seriously, wat happened?!” Kara suddenly stepped back, darting her eyes between the two of them. “This morning you were about to break up!”

“Yeah, Alex,” the detective gave her fiancée a dimpled grin, ready to rub this one in. “What happened?”

Alex huffed out an annoyed breath as she crossed her arms. “Someone… might have made me see I was being an idiot.”

“And that someone was…” Maggie kept giving Alex that shit-eating grin, as the other woman rolled her eyes.

“Lena Luthor,” Alex mumbled.

“Mhm,” Maggie gave a self-satisfied nod. “That’s right. So now you don’t get to complain about her being my best woman.”

Alex raised her eyebrows. “Best woman? Is that even a thing?”

“It is now.”

“Yeah…” the two fiancées were surprised by the deep sigh beside them and as they looked over, they saw Kara looking unfocused into the distance, “…Lena’s amazing, isn’t she?” Alex frowned very deeply at the woman while Maggie’s shit-eating grin was slowly returning, looking at Kara with an incredulous glint in her eyes. “I’m gonna go get her some plumerias,” Kara suddenly proclaimed.

Alex’s look turned a very different kind of incredulous. “Weren’t you tired?”

“Pfft, it’s just Mexico. It’s on the same continent. Besides, when you save a wedding you deserve flowers.”

“But-” Alex fell silent as her sister suddenly flew out the window, leaving her frowning very deeply at this curious behaviour. She was brought out of her stupor, when she felt Maggie trying very hard to control her laughter. “What was that about?” she asked, as she watched the detective let out a series of muffled snorts.

“Oh… nothing…” Maggie shook her head, as she was clearly having trouble keeping a straight face. “I guess… that’s what friends are for, right?” She promptly reverted to her loud snorting, clearly unable to control her amusement.

“Okay, seriously, what is-”

“Not tonight.” Maggie put a finger on Alex’s lips. “If I’m right about this, you’re gonna figure it out at some point anyway. But not tonight.” Alex was ready to protest, but then Maggie was kissing her again and all other thoughts were driven from her mind.

And maybe, if she woke up late for work the next morning, and realised that she and Maggie were still going to be spending the rest of their lives together, then maybe she could let it rest. Maybe she was overblowing things and everything was going to be fine. Maybe that woman’s presence wasn’t completely terrible. Maybe, since Maggie and Kara were so sure, she could let the Lena Luthor situation just be.

At least for now.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

_A bright light illuminated the rich cornfield, the tips of the plants grazing beneath her fingers. The sunlight pleasantly caressed her face, as a hand caressed her arm. Kara turned around into a familiar embrace, kissing soft lips, their white garments pressing together. Kara frowned as she pulled away, because the taste of strawberries had invaded her mouth._

_“You can take my hand, Kara…”_

_Kara’s eyes shot wide open at the familiar voice coming from the person in her arms._

_“…and you can take my whole life too if you want to, because…”_

_Kara tried to utter words, but she was too stunned by the shimmering emerald eyes staring into her own, as Lena just gave her that sad smile of hers._

_“…I just can’t help falling in love with you.”_

_Kara opened and closed her mouth without actually forming any sound before Lena Luthor, still smiling sadly, still looking gorgeous in her plain white dress and still holding her ever so close, suddenly leaned back in and pressed their lips together again._

 

“Lena…”

Kara gasped loudly as she shot up in a seated position. She blinked in confusion, her eyes adjusting to the darkness, and she noticed her room, the flower-printed curtains, the alarm clock that told her it was 2:46 AM and the comforter that was completely tangled in on itself. She kicked it off the bed as she suddenly felt very warm, and she groaned loudly as she hung her head.

This was absolutely ridiculous. Obviously she was grateful that she didn’t have to endure the sight of those nightmares anymore where her mother and Mon-el seemed to be safe and unharmed, and where Lena died. But this was still ridiculous. She sighed as she got out of bed and headed for the kitchen for a glass of water, because that new dream that had replaced her previous nightmare since a few weeks now always left her parched for some reason. She shook her head as she paused halfway, toying with her silver necklace and its pendant that was around her neck, while she turned red upon thinking back at the visions she just woke up from. She returned to groaning in embarrassment as she stepped towards the kitchen once more. All the while softly cursing the one person who’d put these weird thoughts in her head, and who was obviously to blame for all this.

 

“Damn you, Jess!!”

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point forward, we're officially canon adjacent. Meaning that canon stuff still happens, but with changes that I'll make clear as we go along.
> 
> Next week: Instead of moping in Midvale, we have a wedding to attend!


	6. The Past - part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of abuse

_March 20 th 2007_

_“Oh, wow. Who made a cheesecake in the shape of a person?”_

_Lena looked up as she took her seat, seeing Veronica Sinclair’s condescension seeping through her arrogant eyes. The small Luthor’s nostrils flared and she emphatically unwrapped her sandwich, making it clear that she wasn’t going anywhere, as the other girls at the large table snickered while looking at the glaring contest happening before them._

_“If I’m a cheesecake, doesn’t that make you the one who can’t beat a dairy product to graduation?” Lena retorted, and Veronica scowled at her while the rest of the table kept looking on._

_Lena wasn’t sure when it had started, but by now it was almost routine: Veronica would make some snide remark about no one wanting her there, Lena would retort something about her being nowhere near as smart as her, usually pointing out that she would graduate sooner than the older girl, and the rest of the lunch inside Whittaker’s Boarding School for Young Ladies would proceed with an air that was thick with tension and with hateful glares being sent between the two girls who couldn’t stand each other._

_Lena knew that it wouldn’t take much to make this part of her life a lot easier if she just sat at another table during lunch. But she couldn’t help it. She reasoned that it would be like giving up, like admitting defeat to the arrogant upperclassman._

_Wait… upperclasswoman? Upperclassgirl? Whatever, she’d look it up later._

_But in all honesty, she knew that it wasn’t that. She knew that it was jealousy. And yes, Lena was very well aware that it wasn’t proper; could you imagine what her mother would think? Lena swallowed as she adjusted in her seat, careful not to touch the chair with her lower back. It was strange too, because Lena had never thought of herself as being shallow. But the problem was that as long as she didn’t open her mouth, Veronica was very pretty. You know, in that poised and dignified way that her mother was always on about. So yeah, Lena was jealous. That Veronica was all that, while she looked like a potato. A poorly peeled one, Lena though bitterly as she scooted her lower back a little closer to the chair._

_So yeah, clearly that was why she kept coming back to the big table where the girl who was as poised and dignified as she was condescending and mean always sat. Clearly that was why she kept staring at her, with a false look of superiority in her eyes. It was unfair, Lena kept thinking. That cruel people were allowed to look like that._

_Lena shivered as she watched Veronica’s tongue dart out to lick some jam of her lips._

_Tomorrow, she thought to herself. Tomorrow she would definitely sit at an other table._

_Probably…_

 

* * *

 

November 4th 2017

 

The SunView Hotel was host to a wedding reception this weekend.

The establishment’s name was also slightly ironic on this particular Saturday, as it hadn’t stopped raining all morning. The majority of the guests had already arrived, ready for tonight’s rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding the next day. Most of them had been surprised by the last minute change of location but, by request, they had not been told that the upgrade was thanks to a generous contribution to wedding expenses on behalf of a very wealthy CEO. The mentioned benefactor was currently in her assigned hotel room; one she had to share with her best friend. A fact of which a grin-wearing, eyebrow-wiggling bride had been more than happy to tell her about. But seeing as Kara was momentarily still helping Alex and Maggie with some details, the youngest Luthor was currently the only living person in their room, which was right next to the one of the brides. She was also cursing under her breath while aggressively wiping at her scribble-filled notebook, on which she’d somehow managed to spill her coffee.

“Shit!” Lena hissed through her teeth as she picked up the sticky notebook and waved it through the air, noticing she’d involuntarily cancelled out half her index list. Brilliant.

“Shh, I’m trying to concentrate!”

Lena sent an annoyed look to her left, where Mesut was facing the window with his eyes closed, his fists clenched, and a deep frown on his face. The man had been attempting to learn how to teleport like Lionel and Sam had been able to do, but Lena was starting to think that maybe there was some sort of trick to it that they didn’t know about, because he was still having no success. After two whole weeks, no less. And speaking of having no success, she was also feeling like she herself was having less and less success in deciphering any sort of consistency within the ghost realm. Because while having Mesut on her side was highly convenient, it also was incredibly frustrating that he had broken the pattern of all ghosts having an objective. And it’s not like she hadn’t tried to probe for information on any subconscious reasons for him to be here. In fact she’d learned a lot about him: Born in Chicago and raised in National City, Turkish mother, Egyptian father, very large family, none of whom were apparently in need of ghostly guidance, and he apparently didn’t mind being a ghost. Like, at all. Apparently the fact that he could now walk into any movie theatre without having to worry about expenses, was enough to make his afterlife an enjoyable experience.

Go figure.

After giving him a third degree interrogation to find out any possible objective he might have, he had also sheepishly confessed that he only went to see romantic comedies and that, quote: ‘Sometimes when they’re really good… I cry.’ Due to some ill-timed remarks, however, Lena had discovered that there were also other places he was happy to walk into. And after giving him a very angry and very lengthy lecture, in which she may or may not have threatened to have his grandmother deported, the man had finally promised to no longer invade any woman’s privacy. Of course there was no real way for Lena to actually control that…

“We’re back!”

Lena practically lunged towards her bag, stuffing her still sticky ghost-notebook in it, before pivoting on the spot and trying to look casual as Kara and Maggie made their way into the spacious suite.

“Look! We finally have our dresses!” Kara darted closer, clearly full of excitement, as she slipped the covers of their clothing for tomorrow. Lena pursed her lips as she watched Kara hold up the two dresses.

“Seriously?” Lena arched an eyebrow towards Maggie who strutted closer, feigning innocence. “You’re making us wear pink?”

“What? You don’t like it?” Maggie was trying (and failing) to appear serious, as the corners of her mouth twitched up mischievously.

“Oh, you know, I only told you about a hundred times: I’ll wear anything you want, just don’t make it pink!”

Maggie gave her a shrug, a shit-eating grin firmly in place. “Must’ve slipped my mind.”

“Well, I love it!” Kara exclaimed, and Lena fondly smiled at her, because of course she did. As she turned her head back to Maggie’s sly grin, she could feel a jibe about her forlorn look directed at Kara coming, so she went for a pre-emptive strike.

“Well, I suppose it could be worse,” she drawled, giving Maggie an amused look. “We could be wearing a _suit_ …”

“It’s a uniform!!” Maggie exclaimed, and Lena grinned at her success at getting under the woman’s skin. “A ceremonial police uniform!!” She huffed out a breath as she shook her head at the smirking Luthor. “And the brides make the rules anyway, so you should be happy that I don’t make you go naked, or make you wear some unflattering dress to make you look ugly or something.”

“Okay, okay,” Kara came between the two before more jabs could be exchanged. “There’s nothing wrong with pink and your uniform looks great,” she offered, as she gave Maggie an encouraging smile. “Oh! And Lena can’t look ugly in anything, cause you know, she’s beautiful.”

Maggie had already turned halfway towards the door, but now she suddenly ducked her head, as she valiantly attempted to not burst out laughing. “Yeah… uh-huh…” she cleared her throat, trying to keep it together, “I gotta go… see if they’ll fix the heat in our room… I’ll see you two at the rehearsal.” She quickly made a beeline for the door, while shaking her head in amusement.

“Yep! See you downstairs!” The door closed behind the detective and Kara let out a content sigh as she turned back around. “Okay, we should probably try these on, right? See if they’re… Lena?” The alien woman’s crinkle appeared on her forehead, as she watched the young CEO give her a curious look.

Lena was trying very hard to control herself. She was trying very hard to ignore the sudden warmth on her cheeks and her racing heart. She was trying very hard to not blurt out anything stupid. But somehow, Kara always made it so unbelievably difficult.

_Don’t say it. Don’t open your mouth._

“You…”

_Don’t you dare!_

“You think I’m beautiful?”

Lena instantly cringed at the juvenile question, but controlling her emotions around Kara apparently had an inverse learning curve, as it only seemed to get harder over time. The alien woman, for her part, just blinked in confusion.

“Wha- of course I do. I mean, anyone would, just… well, Rao, look at you.” Kara laughed nervously while gesturing at her, and Lena could almost feel herself start to sweat. Which was very strange, because she was pretty sure that no one had touched their thermostat. “Surely you get that all the time?”

“Not- not lately…”

Kara instantly scoffed at that. “Pfft, well some people are obviously in need of glasses. You know,” she sheepishly adjusted her own pair, “ones that actually work.”

Lena was sure that there was a witty retort just waiting to be made there, but she was too distracted by the warm, glowing feeling in her chest and her stomach's sudden inclination for acrobatics. They both stood there for a second and Lena was vaguely aware that it wasn't normal to keep staring into each other's eyes like this. But Kara wasn't moving either, and she was probably imagining things now, because she could've sworn the woman's eyes had started darting to and from her lips, but there was no way that-

Lena inhaled sharply and quickly stepped past Kara when she noticed an emergency happening behind her. “Shit!” She was just in time to snatch their pink dresses from the couch before the spilled coffee on the table started dripping onto them. She turned back around towards Kara, as three people simultaneously breathed out in relief.  

“Oh, thank god…”

“Oh, thank Rao…”

“Oh, thank Allah…”

Lena managed not to snort at the triple exclamation, while Kara stepped closer. “Wow, that was close,” the blonde woman huffed. “Why is there coffee everywhere?”

“I spilled some,” Lena responded. “Oh, don't give me that look, Supergirl,” she arched an eyebrow at Kara's amused expression, “I just proved I have better reflexes than you.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Kara took her dress out of Lena's hands. “I'm gonna go see if this fits.”   
Just like that, Kara turned around and headed into their bathroom. Lena swallowed as she put her dress at a safe distant from the coffee, wondering how she was going to survive the weekend, before she noticed Mesut frowning at the bathroom door. 

“Huh… that’s weird,” he said.

“What is?”

“Well, you know that I’m sort of an expert in romantic comedies… and that’s usually the part where the girl gets asked out.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lena grumbled. “Shouldn’t you be following Maggie?” she asked annoyed.

“Oh come on, it’s a wedding! What could possibly happen?! Don’t I get a break from the constant shadowing just this once?”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know how strict Roulette is… is about…” Lena froze as she realised something. “Mesut!” The man took a step back at the woman’s sudden aggressive tone. “You don’t watch them… Alex and Maggie… do p- p- private stuff, do you?!”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down.” He held up his hands defensively. “I don’t. Big J already gave me a lecture on that.”

Lena frowned in confusion. “Who?”

“Oh, he’s a ghost too. We actually-”

“Lena, have you seen my earrings?”

Lena turned around, seeing Kara step back into the room with an inquisitive look and it took her mind a few seconds to process the image in front of her. Kara Danvers was standing there, looking at her. Tilting her head slightly like a curious puppy. Her bright blue eyes as beautiful and friendly as always.

She was also in her underwear.

Lena opened and closed her mouth several times, actively refraining from scanning her friend from top to bottom. ( _Your friend!! Your friend, Lena!!)_ Instead, she tried to ignore the fact that she was definitely sweating now and pretended she didn’t know what the sudden heat concentrating below her stomach meant. “Have… have you checked the dresser?” she asked weakly, pointing at the piece of furniture in the corner.

“Oh, I didn’t!”

Kara went over and started searching the drawers, while Lena was trying to control her breathing. This was ridiculous. There was no reason for this to suddenly happen. She’d shared a room with two girls in boarding school, for crying out loud! There was no reason that now all of a sudden she would- _Sweet baby Jesus, why is she bending down?!!_

Lena made a tiny strangled sound as she snapped her head to the side to avoid the lace-covered behind that was blatantly on display at the moment. And yeah, she was not a pre-teen anymore, so she couldn’t pretend that she was ignorant to what was happening to herself right now. But it was still embarrassing, inappropriate, it made no sense _and it would be really nice if it could stop right about now!_

“Ugh… they’re not here.” Kara sighed loudly and she stepped back towards the bathroom and thus back into Lena’s view. Brilliant. “Lena? Everything okay?” Kara had paused her movements and was giving her a concerned expression. Lena made an affirmative sound, or at least she tried to, but it sounded very forced. And excessively high-pitched. “All right then,” Kara drawled, giving her a curious smile before awkwardly backing into the bathroom again. As soon as the door closed, Lena let out a shaky breath. She’d thought that after the events of this past year, she’d already experienced all the degrees of embarrassment available to humanity. Well, apparently she was wrong. Lena blinked in surprise at the sound of a low chuckle, and as she looked to the side she saw Mesut grinning towards the bathroom door.

“Mesut!! What did we say about ogling women?!”

“Oh, come on, like you weren’t looking.”

“I- w- wa- wa- was not!!” Lena stammered. She aggressively snatched her dress while marching towards the bedroom, very well aware of the burning sensation on her cheeks. As she stepped inside the room and opened the door of the closet, she had her suspicions confirmed by the mirror on the inside of the door. Her cheeks were about as pink as her dress.

“So are we still supposed to have this big ghost meeting?”

Lena flinched in surprise as she noticed that Mesut had apparently followed her inside. “Yes,” she hissed, perhaps a little harsher than necessary. “So just wait downstairs, I still have to change.” The man made a face at her tone, but raised his hands in defeat as he headed for the closed door. “And if you try spying on Kara-”

“I know, I know, you’ll deport my grandma. Geez…” the man shook his head before walking straight through the closed bedroom door.

Lena huffed out a breath before starting to unbutton her shirt in order to put on her dress. But she had to pause halfway through, as her mind appeared to have no interest in letting go of the image where Kara was standing half naked in front of her. Lena breathed deeply a few times, in and then out, because she was trying not to be a hypocrite. She sent herself a warning glare in the mirror on the door of the closet. She was trying very hard not to think about her friend ( _your friend, Lena!!)_ in her underwear. But she had to admit; the thought of being able to walk straight through that wall and into the bathroom without being seen by Kara, was very- _okay, yeah, that’s enough!!_

Lena aggressively shook her head as she stepped out of her skirt and started pulling her dress up. She was vaguely aware that it felt somewhat tight, but she was more focused on trying to decipher the latest flaw in logic and reason that Kara had created. She’d seen girls in their underwear before. She’d shared a crammed living space with them in boarding school, but these… feelings? _Yeah, that’s the least graphic term,_ _let’s go with feelings._ Right, so these _feelings_ were definitely new. I mean, not _brand new_ obviously, but them manifesting as a result of seeing a female person in her underwear, yeah that was new.

Lena pulled the straps of the flattering but entirely too pink dress over her shoulders as she looked at herself in the narrow mirror. She tugged at her zipper with annoyance as it appeared to be stuck, while she kept thinking that it just didn’t make any sense. I mean, sure, if she went with Maggie’s theory of her being… being… _-seriously, Lena, just say it!-_...bisexual… and combine that with the fact that her feelings for her best friend were most certainly romantic in nature, then there would be some semblance of logic. But if her being… being… bisexual… _-seriously, just thinking the word was hard-_ …was the case, then surely she should’ve felt something like this before? Surely there had to be some kind of precedent to support-

“I found them!”

Lena pivoted on the spot, to see the object of her thoughts (and feelings) proudly holding up her earrings, now thankfully wearing her dress.

“Turns out I never took them out of my bag.” Kara chuckled self-consciously as she started clipping them on (apparently there were downsides to having impervious skin), while Lena cursed her own cheeks for their insistence on matching the colour of her dress. She chuckled along with Kara, as she tried to subtly keep tugging at her stupid zipper, which still wouldn’t be moved. “These are seriously the kind of things that Alex would _never_ let go when we were kids. She still doesn’t, but at least the teasing is less mean nowadays.” Kara smiled at her, but it quickly turned to a small frown. “You need some help with that?”

“No, no!” Lena responded a little too fast. “I can handle it.” She tried to smile reassuringly as she kept aggressively yanking on that stupid zipper, which was being teenage-Alex-Danvers levels of mean right now.

“Are you sure? Not to brag, but I’m pretty strong you know?”

Lena conjured up a teasing smile. “Oh, I know. And I think Alex’s teasing will revert to being mean if you rip the dress of her fiancée’s best woman by being heavy-handed.” She arched an eyebrow at the blonde woman, who huffed out in offence.

“Pfft… heavy-handed? When have I ever…” Kara suddenly fell quiet as her expression appeared to turn serious. “Lena…” her frown grew deeper, “…what’s on your back?”

Lena’s blood froze in her veins. She looked over her shoulder, realising her back was visible through that narrow mirror on the inside of the closet. _Shit!_ She hurriedly reached behind her, slamming the door shut and pressing her back against it. “It’s nothing,” Lena stated firmly, as she tried to resume the war with her zipper despite her trembling fingers. She steadily tried to avoid eye contact with Kara, who only looked more concerned as she stepped closer.

“It didn’t look like nothing. Did you fall down, or-”

“No.” Lena reiterated, struggling to control her voice while pondering plans to acquire every major clothing store in town and subject all their zippers to rigorous inspections. “Look, if you’re ready, just wait for me downstairs, okay?”

“But Lena, you definitely have something on-”

“I said it’s nothing!!” Lena snapped. She watched Kara flinch, as the woman retracted her hand which she’d been stretching out towards her. Of course, the damned zipper picked that exact moment to start collaborating and Lena quickly pulled it all the way up, adjusted the straps, and walked out of the bedroom while avoiding Kara’s eyes. She heard the woman call after her, but she kept her head down as she marched through the suite and straight out of the expensive hotel room.

All the while cursing her rotten luck.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“I hereby declare this ghost meeting officially opened! OUCH!”

Winn rubbed the back of his head, while sending an offended look towards Maggie.

“Keep it down, would you?” the detective admonished, not looking all that sorry about smacking him.

They were all gathered at a small table in the corner of the hotel ballroom where the rehearsal dinner was about to start. ‘They’, being everyone who knew about Lena’s ability plus Mesut. (Names that Winn had already suggested for their group included: The Ghostbuskers, The Spirit Squad and Team Lena.) And while they were pretty secluded from the few people that had already started digging in to the buffet on the other side of the room, Maggie was probably right that they should be cautious. They were all wearing jackets over their formal clothing, because apparently the problem with the heating wasn’t just restricted to Maggie and Alex’s room. But since Lena had practically ran out of her bedroom and made a beeline for the ground floor, she was now left to deal with goose bumps on her upper arms, while trying to pay attention to the conversation. Not that she was succeeding…

“So is, um… is Jess coming to the wedding?” James asked, looking at Lena’s distracted profile.

“Nah,” Winn responded for her, “apparently she and Lena couldn’t _both_ leave L-Corp unattended.” He suddenly blinked, as he frowned at his friend. “Why do you ask?”

“Um… no reason.” James cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject. “So do we have a strategy for Roulette, or not?”

“Well… sort of,” Winn offered, not sounding too convinced.

“The plan is basically to get dirt on her,” Maggie explained. “Or anything else that might give Lena some leverage. Unfortunately that woman is hard to get information on. After dropping out of boarding school, it’s like she vanished from the face of the earth until resurfacing in National City last year.”

“But weren’t you tracking the people she was having followed?” James asked. “And trying to figure out why?”

“Yeah, but those seem like a dead end. And Luthor says that figuring out her objective is a moot point anyway if she refuses to be reasoned with.” They all looked at Lena for a moment, who still wasn’t really paying attention, instead gazing listlessly at the guests on the other side of the room and still being distracted by the earlier events upstairs. “One of our theories is that she might be trying to figure out who blew up her building,” Maggie continued, “which would explain why she’s having _me_ followed, since I’m leading that investigation. But since the other three stalking victims don’t seem to be involved in shady business, it doesn’t really add up. And even in my case, it’s just an educated guess… right, Mesut?” Maggie looked in the general direction the man was supposed to be, while the ghost nodded in response.

“Yes, yes. Like I said, she wants to know absolutely everything, so I don’t know which part is important to her.” No one could actually hear him, which is why the four of them looked at Lena expectantly, but she still appeared to be elsewhere with her thoughts.

“Luthor!”

“Huh?” Lena jolted in surprise, noticing their expectant faces. “Oh, he… he basically said yes.”

Mesut sputtered in protest at the rudimentary translation, while Maggie looked aggravated at Lena’s lack of interest and Winn just seemed concerned. James, however, turned to Maggie again. “I’m sorry, but… when you get ‘dirt’ on her, as you say, what exactly are you planning to do with it?” James let his eyes go over Winn and Maggie who both looked rather uncomfortable.

“Well…” Winn started hesitantly, “…basically… blackmailing her into backing off.”

James frowned at him. “And you think that would actually work?”

“According to Lena’s best case scenario… yes.”

James’s frown only grew deeper. “The best case scenario being what, exactly?”

Maggie groaned, apparently tired of dancing around the issue. “Basically we’re trying to find a family member or someone else she cares about that’s still alive, so we can threaten to… harm them.”

There was a pause as James let his eyes go over the three people he could see. “You… you can’t be serious.” He kept looking around, but nobody spoke up. “Are we really stooping to that level?!” he exclaimed. “I mean, I know that this situation is dangerous, but going around and threatening to- to _kill_ people is just way too extreme to be even considered-”

“Too extreme?” Everyone looked at Lena, who had apparently snapped out of her catatonic state and was levelling James with a cold glare, before speaking up again with ice in her voice. “If you’d had John Corben shouting in your ear for three days straight, then trust me, you’d be resorting to extreme measures as well to try and prevent it from ever happening again.”

James deflated slightly, although he seemed far from convinced by the whole idea. He took a moment to look at Lena’s unmoving stare, before sighing deeply. “Well, I definitely don’t agree with this,” he started carefully, “but if you need help with finding that one girl… Meryl Evans, was it?” He looked to the side, where Winn nodded in confirmation. “I could put a reporter on it. It wouldn’t be the first time that CatCo covers this kind of story, so it wouldn’t be suspicious.”

“You think a reporter will have more luck than the police?” Maggie asked sceptically.

“You’d be surprised… not everyone sees cops as people they can trust.”

Maggie scoffed at his darkened expression. “What, you have a problem with cops now?” she asked with the slightest hint of offence in her voice.

James looked away, a bitterness enveloping his face. “Let’s just say I didn’t have the best of experiences…” Maggie frowned at him, but before she could question any further, the man suddenly got up. “I’m gonna go get some food.” He headed for the other side of the room, while Maggie shook her head at his retreating figure.

“What was that about?” she grumbled.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Winn responded, which earned him a confused frown from Maggie. “But back to serious matters,” he leaned on his elbows as he gave the detective an inquisitive look, “what are you going to call Kara, now that you’re gonna be the ‘little Danvers’ of the family?”

Maggie cackled out a laugh at that, which made Lena blink in surprise since she still wasn’t really paying attention. “Oh, no, no,” she laughed, “Kara is still little Danvers. But Alex is going to graduate to Mrs. Danvers and since I’m the oldest, I guess I’ll be Big Danvers.”

“You’re 5 foot 3,” Winn remarked.

“And I can still kick your ass.”

“Big Danvers it is!”

Maggie hummed in satisfaction, before turning back towards Lena. “Okay, seriously Luthor, you gotta tell me what’s up. You’re not gonna keep wearing that sour face until tomorrow, are you? Because that’s gonna make for some terrible pictures.”

“Nothing… nothing’s up…”

“Bullshit.” Maggie tilted her head in that annoying and knowing fashion. “So going by experience, the only one to ever reduce you in this state is little Danvers. What is it? More setbacks in your quest to get the girl?” Winn snickered at that, but Lena really didn’t appreciate the woman having a laugh at her expense.

“You know she’s straight, Maggie,” she sighed.

“That’s what Alex thought too, and look at her now. She made some serious progress.”

This time both Winn and Mesut laughed out loud at the statement, but Lena didn’t find it funny. She swallowed, wishing that her hopeless pining was still her biggest problem right now. But it wasn’t. Because Kara had seen something she wasn’t supposed to, and now she didn’t know what to do. She was once again caught between hiding the truth and bringing up something she’d rather keep buried in the depths of her subconscious. Beside her, she noticed Winn and Maggie having a silent conversation, apparently arguing who had to try and get the youngest Luthor to tell them what was wrong, but as she turned her head away again she saw an opportunity to change the subject.

“Maggie…” Lena breathed out, having caught sight of a familiar face amongst the crowd of people getting food, “…do you know that man? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him before.”

“Huh?” Maggie looked at the other side of the room. “Which one?”

“The one to the side, square jaw, grey sweater. I saw him at the DEO that one time.”

Maggie squinted her eyes to see who Lena was talking about, but to her surprise it was Mesut who suddenly spoke up. “Oh, that’s Big J!” he piped up. “Hold up, this is perfect, he keeps telling me I’m full of shit when I say that someone can see me. Hey!! Big J!! Over here!!” Lena’s eyes widened as she realised she was about to get roped into a ghostly mission in the middle of the rehearsal dinner.

“No! Mesut, stop!” It was too late, as the ghostly man in the grey sweater started walking closer and Lena pinched her nose as she let out an annoyed groan.

“What is it, Mesut?” the man asked, sounding almost as annoyed as Lena felt.

“So you know how I keep telling you that I’m talking to this lady that’s alive?”

“Yes.”

“And you know how you keep saying that’s not possible?”

“Yes.”

Mesut gave a smug grin as he jumped to his feet and gestured dramatically towards Lena. “Tada!! Miss Lena, this is Big J. Big J, Miss Lena.” He grinned at the both of them after the introduction and Lena contemplated ignoring them for a second, but since she’d resolved not to do that anymore, she gave a long sigh and looked the man over.

“Nice to meet you,” she stated coolly. The man in the grey sweater seemed to freeze as he opened and closed his mouth, seemingly too shocked to speak. And Lena took the opportunity to momentarily turn back to Maggie and Winn, who were looking from Lena to the empty space and back again as if they were following a tennis match. “Mesut just forced me into another ghost case,” she said dryly. In response she got a pair of ‘ooooooh’s, as the conversation suddenly made sense to them.

“You- you… you’re real… you can see me…”

Beside him, Mesut was looking entirely too satisfied. “Told you,” he said smugly.

“Look, sir,” Lena begrudgingly started, “I will try and help you with whatever you need, but is there any chance you could wait until Monday? My friend is getting married and I-”

“No!” The man suddenly seemed to shake off his shock, his expression filling with a sense of urgency. “I can’t wait! She has to know! She has to know I’m here!”

Lena sighed, because apparently attending Maggie’s wedding in peace was too much to ask. “Who needs to know?”

“Alex!”

Lena’s thoughts halted any and all activity for a second. She just stared at the man in his grey sweater, as she could feel her insides start to twist and turn unpleasantly. She swallowed, looking from the man’s urgent expression to her friends and back again, as she started to realise what this could mean. What it most certainly had to mean. “No…” she shook her head, trying to force the situation away through sheer will-power. She stumbled out of her chair and backed away, causing her friends to jump to their feet with concern in their eyes. “No…” Lena repeated, still shaking her head. “You… you can’t be…”

“I am.” The man gave her an intense look and Lena swallowed nervously. “I’m Jeremiah Danvers.”

  

 

* * *

 

 

“Luthor, I know you’re in there!!”

The sound of Maggie’s fist colliding repeatedly with the other side of the door was very loud, but Lena stubbornly ignored it. She covered her ears like a child, staring intently at a corner of the small bathroom stall as if the rest of the world would disappear like that.

“Ms. Luthor, please, I need Alex to know I’m here!”

Lena breathed out of her nose in her frustration, as her hands were unable to block out Jeremiah’s pleading voice.

“Luthor, stop being selfish and get your ass out of there!!”

“Selfish?!” The bathroom stall’s door swung away, narrowly missing Maggie, as Lena had instinctively jumped up and pushed it open. “Limiting the amount of people that know my secret is perfectly reasonable!!” Lena hissed out, angrily darting her eyes between the detective and the ghost in front of her. “And if you want to talk about being selfish, we can start with you!!” She pointed an accusing finger at Jeremiah. “This is your daughter’s wedding day!! And you want to ruin it by telling her that you’re dead right this instant?!”

“Alex would want me at her wedding!” Jeremiah protested. “She’d want to know-”

“Cut the crap, Luthor.” Maggie’s voice was calmer but still bordered on angry, as Lena gave her a frown. “We both know why you don’t want to tell Alex, and it has nothing to do with how _she_ will feel.”

Lena felt herself falter, as Maggie’s intuitive abilities were very inconvenient at times like these. But she just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell Alex her father was dead. Because he wasn’t just her father. Adopted or not, the man had another daughter and Lena was not ready for that, not by a long shot. Maybe she would never be. She just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell Kara…

“It’s my secret,” she said, trying to sound stern, but her voice betrayed her. “And you two trying to bully me into telling someone who hates me is just wrong.”

“Alex doesn’t hate-”

“Just leave me alone.” She pushed past the detective as she stepped straight through the ghost of Jeremiah Danvers and headed anywhere that wasn’t near those two.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she hugged herself; the goose bumps on her arms no longer just the result of the cold temperature caused by the hotel’s faulty heating. She wandered through the empty hallways of the quiet hotel and found an unlocked storage room. And as undignified as it may be, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her before sinking to the floor, feeling increasingly terrible about everything. About the amount of secrets she was starting to keep from Kara. About not wanting to tell Alex. About potentially ruining this wedding if she _did_ tell Alex. She was still staring ahead at a mop sticking out of its bucket, silently cataloguing all the things that made her a bad person, when she realised that Mesut must have seen her step inside. Because the ghostly man suddenly stepped through the wall and looked her over with concern.

“Miss Lena?” he said, sounding uncertain. “You okay?”

Lena just shook her head without actually looking at him. “You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you?!” she bit back while still shaking her head. “Do you always go around spouting other people’s secrets to the whole world?!”

“Okay, I… I really think you’re overreacting-”

“Overreacting?!” Lena snapped her head up to try and glare a hole through the ghostly man. “There’s no way out of this anymore, Mesut!! I can’t ignore Jeremiah forever, and there’s no way Alex will keep a secret like that from Kara!! Our whole friendship is screwed!! It’s all going to hell and it’s all your fault!!” Lena realised that her poise and her dignity were nowhere to be found right now, but she didn’t really care anymore. Because the pressing weight on her heart was starting to get unbearable.

“I- I don’t understand…” Mesut stammered defensively, “I thought she was your best friend, why is it such a big deal if she knows-”

“There!!” Lena exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the man. “That right there!! That’s exactly the problem with people knowing about me!! ‘Oh, why don’t you tell so and so, she’s a good person,’ or ‘Oh, why don’t you tell my aunt’s second cousin twice removed, she’s nice,’ or ‘Oh, why don’t you visit my very good acquaintance whose friend just died?’ And before you know it, I’ll be an accessory to be traded between grieving relatives and if I even _try_ to put my foot down and put my own life first, even one of my best friends will call me selfish!!” Lena swallowed, as Maggie’s accusation was still ringing in the back of her mind. “So how about next time you see a ghost hanging around, you just keep your mouth shut about me?! Because quite frankly, deporting your grandmother is starting to look more and more appealing!” Lena huffed angrily as she averted her eyes.

“Yeah, no. This is not okay anymore.” Lena lifted her head, her expression turning incredulous as she saw Mesut giving her a defiant look. “You’re sitting here complaining about other people being able to control you, and then you turn around and try to control me by threatening my family. Not cool.”

Lena scoffed, because that had nothing to do with it. “You’re the one who-”

“And another thing; how is it you rich people think you can get away with anything?!” he pressed on, now clearly getting angry. “My grandma hasn’t done anything wrong, but somehow you think it’s okay to control her life! And why?! Just because you have more money?!”

“How did this become about money?!” Lena spit back, frowning deeply at the sudden turn of the argument towards her off-hand threat to keep the man in check. “I was talking about the power everyone has about me by knowing-”

“Exactly!” Mesut interrupted. “This _is_ about power! You have the power to tell me wat to do, _because_ you are rich enough to control my family! And you obviously don’t even get it!” He shook his head at her. “You acted all snobbish when I told you I was happy to be a ghost, just for being able to go and see any movie I feel like! As if that was completely stupid! But did it ever cross your mind that not everyone has the money to do whatever they want?! That doing something like walking into a movie theatre and picking anything to watch at will, might be completely new to me?!”

Lena’s frown only grew deeper, as she had clearly struck a nerve at some point. But despite starting to feel uneasy about her off-hand threat, she still tried to stand her ground. “Poor or not, that still doesn’t give you the right to spy on unsuspecting women,” she said slowly.

“But it gives _you_ the right to threaten my family?!” Mesut insisted. They both stayed silent for a moment, before Mesut huffed out a breath, apparently deflating slightly as he put his hands in his pockets. “Look, I get it, alright? You don’t think people should have power over you, I get that. And I’m sorry for just telling Big J about you, I didn’t think that one through. I didn’t consider the whole power thing. But _you_ obviously did. But somehow you still think it’s okay to have power over _me._ ”

“Mesut…”

“And fine, if it’s not about the money then what? Is it because I’m a ghost?”

“Mesut…”

“You think that being alive makes you better-”

“Mesut!” The man finally fell silent, allowing Lena to get a word in. “I’m sorry.”

The ghostly man seemed choke on his next sentence as he blinked in surprise. “Wha… really?”

“Yes. Really.” Lena let out a long sigh and rubbed her eyes. “I still don’t plan on letting you get away with being a pervert,” she gave the ghost a pointed look. “But you’re right about the principle,” she reluctantly agreed. “One evil doesn’t justify another.”

“Pfft… ‘evil’…” Mesut awkwardly stood there for a while, clearly taken off guard by the apology. Then he carefully moved beside Lena and slid down to the floor next to her, none of his ghostly movements making a sound. “So…” he started unsurely, “…I get the whole keeping control of your own life thing, but… you really think miss Kara would make that a problem?”

Lena huffed out a humourless laugh, the man beside her just giving her a curious look, as she thought of the alien woman. The sweetest, kindest person she’d ever met, who had a giant secret of her own. Who understood the pressure and the responsibility of helping others. “No,” Lena breathed out softly. “I don’t.”

“Well…” Mesut hesitated, “…what’s really the problem, then?”

Lena sighed, leaning her elbow on one knee and resting her head on her hand, as she looked back at Mesut’s honestly confused expression. And she softly muttered the one thing standing in her way. The one giant obstacle so embarrassing, that she hadn’t even laid it out to Winn or Maggie.

“I’m scared.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lena looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.

She turned off the water and let the silence wash over her, counting to ten in her head like that quack of a dr. Talbot kept insisting would definitely help. Because she was running out of ideas on how else to calm her nerves. She looked at her own reflection; her makeup washed off, all the artifice removed, leaving only her pale face staring back at her with doubt in her eyes. Because she wasn’t sure if she was ready. She wasn’t sure that she could push through this. But she didn’t really have a choice anymore, did she? After all, things wouldn’t change. Even if she ignored Jeremiah for the next 24 hours, he’d still be here. He’d still want to talk to Alex… and Kara would have to find out anyway. So it wasn’t ideal, but… better that she told it to her face. Rather than Kara having to find out through her sister that she’d been kept in the dark about a secret ghost-seeing ability.

Lena let out a shaky breath, glancing at her reflection once more and trying to call on any courage she might possess. Because her mother was right; she was spineless. But if she could forget about it for just five minutes… if she could convince her mind that she was brave for at least that long… maybe she could get through it. She looked over her own features; no mask, no attempt to hide her emotions this time. Just like Kara had done when she’d revealed _her_ secret. Wait…

She brought her hand behind her head and undid the tie in her hair, letting the strands of black fall loosely around her shoulders. There… just like Kara. On top of all her dread and worry, she also felt aggravated as she looked down at her dress. She didn’t know why, but the pink just looked all that more offensive to her in this moment. Unfortunately for her, she was rudely reminded of how unimportant that detail was, when she heard the door to the hotel room open and then close again.

“Lena? Are you there?”

Only now that Lena stepped away from the sink, did she realise she’d been holding onto it for dear life, as she felt her hands cramp up awkwardly while stepping out of the bathroom. She clasped them together, facing Kara who had just stepped inside. Beautiful, honest, kind Kara who might never look at her the same after tonight. Lena suddenly felt like she might throw up.

“Hi,” Kara said, sounding slightly breathless.

“Hi,” Lena managed to force out.

“I… didn’t see you all night.”

Lena felt her hands shaking and she clasped them tighter. “I’m sorry.” The need to apologise came automatically, but she should probably tell her secret first. ‘ _Which one?’_ the sardonic side of her mind felt the need to ask. Because they were starting to stack up:

_I love you._

_I can see ghosts._

_I need to show you something._

“Lena… are you sure you’re alright?” Kara stepped closer and the worry in her eyes was ever-present. So Lena tried. She tried ever so hard to force her mouth open and do what needed to be done.

“I…”

_There was no way…_

“I just…”

_She couldn’t do it._

“I….”

_She simply couldn’t get it out._

She heard a familiar and annoying voice in her head, telling her to take baby steps. Take on the little things before getting to the big ones. _Seriously, Talbot, learn when to shut up!_

“I…”

_I love you._

_I can see ghosts._

_I need to show you something._

“I need to show you something.”

Lena instantly sucked in a breath, stunned that something had actually made it past her lips, while Kara just nodded with that same concern nestled in her beautiful blue eyes. And Lena went with it. Since bravery wouldn’t be an ally, she’d take the advice from the one ally she could get. Even if it was that quack…

Lena swallowed nervously as she managed to unclench her cramped-up fingers and gesture to the couch, where she and Kara slowly converged, sitting down on it in familiar proximity like they would do in Lena’s office. Albeit with a vastly different atmosphere. And somehow… Lena managed to find a way to get her vocal chords’ cooperation again.

“I’ve always been… curious,” Lena started, voice unsteady and eyes darting towards anything that wasn’t blue and hidden behind a pair of glasses. “I’ve always been known to ask questions. I always liked to think of it as a natural inclination towards science. Although it might only be stubbornness, of course.” She shrugged, the attempt at humour falling flat when said with such a shaky voice. “But when I was little… my mother just thought of it as me talking back… as me not showing respect.” Lena swallowed her nerves down, powering through her embarrassment. “Sometimes it was just words… sometimes it was just her reminding me that Lex never did that. That a true Luthor would never do that. Sometimes… it was more than that.” By some miracle Lena managed to look up, managed to face the blue eyes that were giving her their full an undivided attention. Kara looked concerned… but also so confused. And if Lena was grateful for anything right now, it was the fact that she wouldn’t have to see her reaction.

Lena twisted her body, turning away from Kara, and brought her loose hair forward over her shoulder. Then she reached back, grabbing the zipper that had started everything, and with trembling fingers she pulled it down. All the way. The gasp that came from behind her was inevitable, that much she knew, but it still sent a sting through her chest. Because she hated being pitied. She hated it more than anything. But there was no going back now.

“She used an old leather belt,” Lena explained, her voice still dreadfully unstable as she pressed her hands against the front of her dress to keep it in place. “To this day, I still don’t know where that thing came from.” She tried to laugh, but it sounded very forced. “The first time… it didn’t even last that long. It couldn’t have been more than five lashes…” Lena swallowed nervously, “…but it got worse over the years. The last time was right before I left for boarding school… and I’m pretty sure she kept swinging for at least an hour. Well…” she shrugged, the straps of the unseemly pink dress sliding a little further down her shoulders, “…that’s what it felt like, anyway.” Lena opened her mouth again, but she suddenly didn’t know what to say anymore. So she just sat there; the purple, wrinkled streaks of skin on her lower back on full display for Kara to see. The scars she usually made sure no one ever got to see. And despite the fact she was still hugging the front of her dress, despite her back being the only part of her that was void of clothing… she had never felt this naked. “Please don’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

The silence extended for a moment, Lena not quite willing to look over her shoulder. Then all of a sudden, a warm set of fingers was making contact with her lower back. Lena inhaled sharply, stiffening at the contact and suddenly the touch was gone.

“I’m sorry,” Kara whispered behind her, sounding concerned. “Does it… does it hurt?”

Lena took a few breaths, swallowing down her surprise. Then she shook her head, still not daring to look behind her. “No… not anymore.”

There was a hum behind her, and then once again silence. She could feel Kara restlessly shifting on the couch, though, and before long, the woman’s fingertips were grazing her back again. Although this time, they were at a respectable distance from her scars, almost between her shoulder blades. “Is it okay…” Kara whispered softly, the woman’s breath tangible on Lena’s neck and suddenly she shivered for a whole different reason. “Can I…?”

Kara didn’t finish her question, but Lena nodded anyway, trying to school her body into remaining still as Kara’s fingers traced lower and towards the scars etched permanently into her skin. And they didn’t hurt anymore. Didn’t burn anymore, like they still did the first year of boarding school. But as Kara slowly started tracing them with two fingers, it was as if the memory of the pain was demanding attention. As if every lash that had ever been laid on that skin, was screaming for recognition again, reminding her what the pain had felt like all those years ago.

It would’ve been more than enough to deal with.

But drowning those thoughts away, were far more distracting feelings. The kind of feelings she didn’t feel like calling anything else since they were still embarrassing as all hell, but they wouldn’t be ignored right now. They refused to go unnoticed as the tips of Kara’s fingers kept tracing her lower back, the heat of the woman’s hand nowhere close to the heat that was concentrating below Lena’s stomach. Lena clenched her legs together and closed her eyes, silently trying to will the unwanted feelings away, but it was a lost cause at this point. She could feel her entire body temperature spiking, and she was pretty sure she was starting to sweat, and it didn’t help when Kara suddenly stopped tracing her scars and pressed her entire palm to Lena’s skin, causing a shiver to go down her spine.

And then the contact was gone.

Lena opened her eyes and was ready to let out a sigh (maybe of relief, maybe of longing), but the contact suddenly returned. Instead this time, Kara’s entire body was pressed against her back as the woman’s arms suddenly encircled her, and it took Lena a moment to realise that Kara was hugging her from behind; the woman’s arms draping over the hands that were still holding the dress in place, while Kara suddenly rested her chin on her shoulder. Lena shuddered, inhaled unsteadily and closed her eyes, as she leaned her head against Kara’s while the whirlwind of emotions was starting to get too much. Kara was way too close, Kara’s body was way too warm, the scars on her back were far more bare than they ever should be, the nagging feeling that this wasn’t what she’d set out to tell her best friend in the first place was starting to demand attention, all while the ghosts of her mother’s lashings still burned on her skin’s memory. Then of course there was the embarrassment that she could feel tears starting to come down. And it was a stupid thing to cry over, she knew that, but it was all just too much. It was just too much at the same time…

_“Come stop your crying, it’ll be alright…”_

Lena opened her eyes, as suddenly her clashing thoughts were muted.

_“Just take my hand, hold it tight…”_

Kara’s hand suddenly took hold of one of her own, and just like that Lena’s embarrassment was gone, as she chuckled softly while shaking her head.

_“I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don’t you cry.”_

Lena huffed, still in awe of how the woman could make her laugh at the most improbable times. “Seriously?” she chuckled softly. “This seemed like the right time to prove a point about musicals?”

“Sorry,” Kara muttered, still not moving her head from Lena’s shoulder. “Reflex.” Lena let out an actual laugh this time, and just like that Kara had made it all go away. The embarrassment, the shame, the fear, the guilt. Just by being her.

And in her mind, it was suddenly so painfully obvious how much she loved her, that she couldn’t believe she’d ever missed it.

“You deserve so much better, Lena,” the soft whisper near her ear suddenly sounded.

And when later Lena whispered ‘tomorrow’ to the ghost of Jeremiah Danvers when Kara briefly left the room. As she would watch the alien woman push their two beds closer together, before falling asleep while holding her hand and before being tormented by nightmares where Kara never wanted to see her again. As she would watch the sleeping face of the alien woman whose honesty always seemed to seep through her blue eyes… Lena could almost believe her.

But for now Lena just hummed, not trusting herself to speak as she just held Kara’s hand tighter.

 

“And just for the record… you’re still beautiful.”

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Alex pulled sweater number three over her head, as it joined her woolly socks and her beanie in their attempts at keeping the agent warm, yet she still shivered; The SunView Hotel not quite able to live up to its inviting name, as she watched her breath form clouds against the window. Stupid hotel, with their stupid broken heating, Alex thought to herself. On the other side of the glass it kept raining nonstop, the weather unmoved by the festivities that were supposed to take place the next day, as the drops kept tumbling down from the night's sky. Alex shook her head as she turned back towards Maggie, who was curled up on the couch of their room.

“Well, looks like we're going to be living the lyrics to ‘Ironic’,” she chuckled as she took a seat next to her soon-to-be wife.

“Huh?” Maggie blinked as she seemed to be pulled out of her thoughts.

“You know… that one line. ‘It's like rain on your wedding day.’”

“Oh… right.” The shorter woman gave a tight-lipped smile, before frowning at the wall again. Alex was about to ask what was wrong, but at that point the door of their hotel room swung open with alarming force. It was so violent that it bounced off the wall and fell into place again behind Kara, who had barged in and looked absolutely beside herself.

“Kara…?” Alex jumped off the couch, Maggie following suit, as they both looked concerned at Kara’s completely bewildered expression and her heaving breaths.

“She… that woman… she dared… and… and Lena…”

Alex went into agent mode in the flash of a second. “What about Lena?” she asked, her hand already itching for her gun. “What did she do? I swear, if she-”

“SHE DIDN’T _DO_ ANYTHING!!” Kara charged forward, and Alex and Maggie both took a step back at the sight of the furious Kryptonian snarling at them. “SHE IS THE _VICTIM_ HERE, FOR RAO’S SAKE!! BUT PEOPLE JUST KEEP JUDGING HER FOR EVERY LITTLE THING AND SHE’S JUST SO _GOOD!!_ BUT NOBODY EVER GIVES HER ANY CREDIT AND SHE KEEPS TAKING ALL THIS CRAP LYING DOWN AND NEVER SNAPS, BECAUSE SHE’S A FREAKING _SAINT!!_ Even… even when she was little… and her mother… she dared… it’s all so unfair, Alex!! It’s just… just… AAARRRGHH!!” Kara let out an eardrum-piercing scream, before gazing around the room, looking for something to incinerate with her heat vision, if Alex had to guess. “I just… I just want… I want to…” Kara looked away, balling her fists and struggling to form words, and Alex dared to take this moment to step closer.

“What? What do you want?” Alex asked urgently, getting more alarmed by the minute at Kara’s state.

“I…” Kara’s figure completely froze as she stopped her erratic gesturing, before looking back at her sister. “…I want to dig up Lillian Luthor and punch her in the face.” She paused, and reconsidered the statement. “Repeatedly.” Kara nodded to herself, as if that was the solution to everything, while not really noticing the two women gaping back at her with wide eyes. “I think I’ll go do that now.” She stepped towards the window, but Alex snapped out of her shock just in time to stop her.

“Whoa, whoa!! You’ll do nothing of the sort!!” She grabbed her sister’s wrist, who blinked as she turned back. “For starters you can’t go flying around in your civilian clothes, and-”

“You’re right. I’ll go get my suit.”

“NO!!” Alex huffed out an incredulous breath. “Supergirl is not going around desecrating graves!! Why the hell do you need to punch a corpse anyway?!”

Kara swallowed, the determination sagging from her shoulders into a hunch as if she were a poorly baked cake. “I don’t… I can’t tell you.” She sheepishly looked back at the door, which was sporting a few cracks where it had just hit the wall, but Alex threw her hands up in exasperation.

“So now Lena Luthor has you keeping secrets from your sister?” She looked between Kara and her fiancée. “Seriously, what is the deal with you two and that woman?”

“You make it sound like there’s something wrong with her,” Kara said as she folded her arms.

“Well, as a matter of fact-”

“Nothing is wrong with her!!” Kara immediately snapped. “She just…” the alien woman deflated again, her arms moving to hug herself, “…needs to be more careful with herself,” she muttered. “That’s her only problem. She keeps thinking of everybody else’s wellbeing before her own. She just… needs to take better care of herself…”

Kara swallowed as she looked at the wall that separated Alex and Maggie’s room from the one where Lena was probably getting ready for bed. But she didn’t have the heart to use her x-ray vision right now, because she felt like she’d gotten the utmost private look at Lena just moments before and she was honestly still reeling from it. Meanwhile, Alex’s eye was starting to twitch out of pure frustration while she stared daggers at that same wall, because that woman kept reducing her sister to an emotional mess somehow. That’s why neither of them noticed Maggie looking at the floor, guilt flooding through her, as she realised that putting other people first was exactly what she’d been trying to force the youngest Luthor to do earlier.

“I have to go back,” Kara suddenly proclaimed, as she stepped back towards the door.

“Kara, wait…” Alex reached out, but the alien woman barged out of the room at an above-human speed and both fiancées winced as the door creaked unpleasantly when it fell back into place. The older Danvers sister let out a measured sigh, hands on her hips, as she turned towards Maggie. “If you knew what that was about, you’d tell me, right?” she asked as she squinted her eyes.

“Yeah… yeah, of course.” The woman cleared her throat. “I’m gonna… go to bed.”

Alex looked on as her fiancée headed to the bathroom, leaving her standing by herself in their freezing hotel room, while cursing that creeping feeling that was telling her she was missing something. The feeling was a recurring theme since even before the summer, as Kara seemed to experience one emotional meltdown after another since telling that woman her secret. And somehow that Luthor woman was always involved. It had already been bad enough before Maggie had taken a liking to her. And then that had led to that one single, tiny, honest mistake of thinking the two were having an affair. Of course all that had been cleared up, and they were only thirteen hours removed from getting married now, but Alex was growing more certain each passing minute that she was missing something. Whatever it was, _something_ was clearly going on. Possibly something very shady. And with some luck…

 

…she might figure it out tonight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you go back and reread PALL 1x14: Kerry Runnels, you'll see Jeremiah already made an appearance at the DEO.
> 
> Kara's vocals are once again courtesy of my sister. (let's call her AccidentalSister) 
> 
> Next week: Overdue talks, vows, and lots of emotions.


	7. Jeremiah Danvers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mentions of suicide

_November 5 th 2017_

 

Lena firmly believed that whatever you do, preparation is key.

She didn’t feel prepared right now.

Despite clutching a letter addressed to Eliza Danvers in her right hand, written on Jeremiah’s behalf at the crack of dawn (she’d narrowly avoided stepping on an empty glass when she got out of bed, which Kara must’ve left there). Despite their carefully laid out plan of telling Alex right now, while letting the rest of the world find out once they’d recuperated Jeremiah’s body and pretended the letter had been found there. Despite the ghostly man flanking her as they stood in the brides’ hotel room. Despite Winn standing by her other side ( _“What do you mean, why? For moral support!”_ ) while Maggie restlessly paced in front of them. Despite the detective repeatedly asking if she was sure, and that she was really sorry about calling her selfish. Despite James keeping Kara busy under the guise of getting some answers on the damn heating. Despite all that, Lena still felt woefully underprepared when Alex stepped out of the bedroom, wearing a jacket over her wedding dress as she rubbed her arms.

“I seriously can’t wait to get to the church, I’m freezing my… ass…” Alex trailed off as she noticed the three living people that were standing in the middle of her room. “Winn?” she said slowly. “Lena?” she gave the youngest Luthor a curious look that was nothing like the wary and distrustful one she usually reserved for her, but Maggie was by Alex’s side before she could dwell on it.

“Alex… we need to talk.”

Alex gave her fiancée a frown. “Okay,” she drawled, curiously glancing at all their grim expressions. “About what?”

“Come here, sit down.” Maggie guided the woman to the couch, clasping her hand between her own as she sat down next to her, while Winn and Lena sank down on the couch opposite of the brides. The silence extended a little too long as Alex kept giving them wary glances, and Lena realised they really should have decided who was going to talk first.

“Okay, guys, you’re starting to creep me out,” Alex huffed.

Maggie sighed as she scooted closer on the couch. “Alex… do you remember when I told you that I hadn’t talked to my dad since he kicked me out?”

Alex blinked at her. “Yes, of course.”

“So… what if I told you… that I actually talked to him?” Maggie hesitated as her eyes darted across her fiancée’s face. “That I actually talked to him in March… and he actually apologised for everything…” Maggie kept looking intently at the taller woman seated next to her, but Alex looked thoroughly confused.

“Wait a minute…” Alex shook her head in disbelief, “…your dad’s alive?!!”

“No… no, babe…” Maggie swallowed. “He’s not.” The detective didn’t seem to know how to proceed, so she glanced towards Lena, apparently inviting her to jump in at this point. And as Alex looked at the scene with a confused frown, Lena had to admit that Maggie had helped her along as far as she possibly could have. Lena sighed with her eyes closed, before opening them and straightening up, facing Alex as she forced the words past her lips.

“I see dead people.” A shiver went down her own spine at uttering those words, while Alex just blinked in response, her expression completely blank. “I don’t know how or why,” Lena continued, “I’m still working that part out. But the fact of the matter is that some people who die turn into ghosts. And for some reason… I’m the only one who can see or hear them.” Lena let out a shaky breath, slightly incredulous that she’d actually gotten through all that without stammering.

Alex huffed out a breathy laugh, as she looked between the three people that were staring at her. Her laughter quickly died out, however, when she noticed their grim expressions remaining in place. “Wait, you… you’re serious?” Alex’s look turned incredulous as she turned back towards Maggie. “You’re not joking?” Alex’s eyes only seemed to widen as the smaller woman shook her head in response. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I’m sorry, babe,” she clutched their hands tighter as she brought them closer to herself. “But it wasn’t my secret to tell, and Lena really wants to limit the amount of people that know. Just… just like not everyone should know that Kara is Supergirl.”

Alex seemed to take a moment to digest that, before almost petulantly huffing out a breath. “Well… it’s not _exactly_ the same,” she grumbled. “Kara’s an actual Superhero…”

“Hey!” Winn suddenly exclaimed in indignation. “Lena’s a hero too! Ouch!” He flinched at Lena’s elbow poking him in the ribs.

“Not now, Winn!” she hissed.

Alex gave their exchange a weird look, before suddenly turning to her fiancée again. “Wait, so… why are you telling me this now?” She kept giving the smaller woman a confused look, and Maggie turned back to Lena again, giving her a look that told her this was up to her. Lena sighed deeply, wishing she could be anywhere else right now, before explaining what was going on.

“Someone… is here to see you,” she started carefully. She paused as she glanced to the ghost of Jeremiah Danvers, who was still standing there while looking intently at Alex’s confused expression. “And he… he said you would want to know. That you would definitely want him to be at your wedding…”

Lena saw the exact moment it clicked in Alex’s mind. Her expression went from confused and slightly curious, to falling in complete disbelief a moment later. The horror set in next, as Alex just shook her head at everyone in the room. “No…” she jolted up from the couch, backing away as if she could run away from everything. She kept shaking her head at all of them, as they also got up from their seats and Maggie tried to step closer. “No… no, no, no,” Alex kept insisting as her face started contorting and her breathing got heavy. “Lillian said… she said she didn’t know… she said… she didn’t know where he was… YOUR MOTHER SAID THAT!!” She suddenly rushed at Lena, but Maggie caught her, holding her in place and trying to calm her down.

“She lied, honey,” Jeremiah suddenly interjected, and Lena dutifully relayed his words to the living people in the room. “She killed me right after I helped you stop her from launching all those aliens into space.”

Lena swallowed, because Alex had now started crying. She was still shaking her head, as if denial would make the truth go away, while she weakly pushed at the hands that were around her waist; Maggie now soothing her as much as she was restraining her. And Lena tried her best to keep her eyes averted, as she stared intently at the ghost beside her, while continuing to relay his message.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” the man breathed solemnly. “I’m sorry for letting her manipulate me. But I didn’t know, Alex. I’d been stuck with Cadmus for so many years… I didn’t know you and Kara had grown up to be as strong as you are. I didn’t know, that you didn’t need my protection anymore.” Alex had stopped fighting Maggie’s grip, instead leaning into her, as her eyes darted between Lena and the empty space she was looking at. The space where she now knew her father had to be standing. “I know this is my own fault, Alex. I chose to go back to Cadmus, because I thought I needed to protect you. It’s my own fault… but at least I get to be here now.” The man exhaled, a small smile breaking through his grim mask. “At least I get to see my girl get married. And to be honest… it’s more than I could’ve hoped for.”

At that, Alex completely broke down. She buried her face in Maggie’s shoulder, shaking like a leaf, as the tears suddenly started to fall freely. Lena swallowed and looked away, not sure anymore that telling her right now had been the best decision. The guilt was slightly suppressed, however, as Winn put an encouraging hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly. Then Jeremiah momentarily turned his pained expression away from his crying daughter to look at Lena.

“Thank you,” he said solemnly. “For letting me talk to her.”

“Don’t mention it,” Lena whispered, still feeling like a monumental asshole for reducing Alex to this state mere hours before her wedding. Even with Jeremiah’s thanks, and despite Winn’s helpful pats on her shoulder.

“I… I need to…” Alex suddenly tried to extract herself from Maggie’s arms, taking one step towards the door, while still taking ragged breaths, “Kara… I have to…”

“No!!” Lena darted past Winn, putting herself between Alex and the door. “You can’t tell her!!”

Alex sighed, the devastation making her look tired as her voice sounded impatient. “Kara deserves to know-”

“But you don’t understand-”

“-that Jeremiah is dead just as much as-”

“I have to tell her!” Lena exclaimed, stunning Alex into silence, while she clasped her trembling hands together. “Please, Alex, I… I never told her,” she uttered softly. She could almost imagine the scowl on her mother’s face if she had ever seen her cower like this, but she pressed on regardless. “I never told her about the ghost thing. Just… believe me when I say I had my reasons, but please Alex… just… let me tell her.”

She looked up, nervously darting her eyes across Alex’s face. And maybe it was just the devastation at the news her father had died. Maybe that was the reason she didn’t put up a fight. But whatever the reason, Alex just let out a tired sigh and muttered her response.

“Fine.”

  

* * *

 

 

Based on the twisting feeling in her gut, Lena calculated a 37 percent chance of her throwing up.

She was pacing in the middle of her hotel room, anxiously waiting for Kara to come back, as she was slowly but surely starting to feel her throat close up. She hugged herself, the jacket over her ugly pink dress providing at least _some_ protection from the cold, as she tried to fight her body’s urge to physically run away from everything. Everything was going to be fine, she tried to tell herself. She was just going to force everything out of her mouth, puke accompanying it or not, and she would-

“You’re not gonna believe this!” Kara’s voice suddenly entered the room, followed by the woman herself as she shut the door with an annoyed huff. Lena shivered and it had nothing to do with the cold. “The problem with the heating is somewhere in the electrical wiring of the building, but they have no clue where it is and the electrician they called got stuck halfway because the road was flooded and-”

“Kara,” Lena interrupted, schooling her voice into steadiness as she interrupted the woman’s rambling, “we need to talk.”

 The alien woman seemed to calm down from her annoyed entrance, as she stepped closer. “Oh… okay.” She frowned as she let her eyes go over Lena, who was trying as hard as she could to appear composed, but she had to clasp her fingers together with brute force just to stop them from shaking. So instead she used her head to motion towards the couch where they’d sat just the night before, and Kara obliged as they both sat down next to each other. “Is this about the…” Kara vaguely gestured towards her “thing again, or…”

“No,” Lena interjected, her lips actually twitching up, because of course Kara would put it like that, “it’s not about the scars this time.” She swallowed, grasping on to that starting point for dear life. “But speaking of that… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I shouldn’t be keeping secrets from you…”

“Lena, it’s okay,” Kara put her hand on Lena’s who were still joined together and no matter how inviting the woman’s touch was, Lena didn’t trust her hands to let go of each other just yet. “I get it; it was something really private. You don’t owe me an explanation-”

“But I do,” Lena insisted, starting to breathe more heavily as she looked intently at the woman next to her. “Because… Kara…” she closed her eyes for a moment and before she could back out, before her cowardice could set in, she decided to cross the point of no return, “…that’s not the only secret I’ve been keeping from you.” Lena inhaled deeply, shivered, but pressed on before the terror building in her soul could take over. “And I know… I know I should have told you sooner, but at first I didn’t want anyone to know, and then Winn found out by accident and he had to go and tell James, and with Maggie the whole situation was just so-”

“Hey, hey,” Kara tugged at her hand, trying to hold it, but Lena wouldn’t budge, her hands still clamped together. “It’s okay, whatever it is-”

“It’s not okay!” Lena exclaimed. “You’re the last person I want to lie to, Kara. You have to believe me, you… no one means as much to me as… but then… things got complicated…”

Lena kept faltering, but out of nowhere her mind seemed to find a crutch. Because for once her scars didn’t feel like a burden. For once, the fact that Kara already knew about the marks on her back felt like it helped. It felt like a stepping stone, to the one thing that was even bigger than that. The secret that maybe wasn’t as big as the one she would never tell her best friend about, but one that yesterday seemed almost impossible to blurt out. But with one of her secrets already out in the open… and with the knowledge that the most embarrassing one would still get to be locked away deeply in her heart…  Lena looked into Kara’s beautiful blue eyes… and let it all out.

“I can see ghosts…” she whispered, before sucking in a breath and raising her voice to a normal level. “I became friends with Winn because I blackmailed him into helping me get Pam from HR to find her sister’s will. I got close to Maggie because I helped her father apologise to her. I almost got myself and Mon-el off that spaceship because the ghost of his father was showing me the way. And I knew how to clear the atmosphere from my mother’s poisons, because the scientist she killed after forcing her to help told me what was going on.”

Lena exhaled a long breath, slumping into herself in a way that would make her mother furious, as she thanked her luck that her stomach had chosen for the 63 percent route. She swallowed as she looked up, not sure what she was expecting, but it probably wasn’t what she got to see. Kara didn’t look angry, or surprised, or anything at all, really. Maybe it was shock, but it just seemed like she was giving her a completely blank look, her hand now completely still over Lena’s. It took a while, but she eventually seemed to find her voice again.

“Wow…” she breathed out, “that’s… really?”

Lena frowned, not sure what to make of the small hint of surprise that was making its way through this otherwise total non-reaction. “Yes…” Lena said slowly, trying to emphasize the truth, the importance of it all, “…really.” A moment of silence passed.

“Wow,” Kara just repeated, her tiny hint of surprise seemingly turning into something adjacent to wonder. “You really are a hero,” she breathed out.

Lena blinked, not sure what to say to that, as she just looked over Kara’s wondrous expression. But unless Winn had somehow mastered either shapeshifting or quick-change in the past few minutes, then this was exactly how well Kara was taking this. “Well,” Lena started hesitantly, “not- not the way you are…”

“The way I am…” Kara seemed to falter, as she retracted her hand and her expression suddenly tuned more serious. “Wait a minute!” She suddenly jolted up from the couch as she darted her eyes back and forward, as if she was going over all kind of things in her head. And Lena swallowed nervously as she got up from the couch as well. “You- you had this secret, and you were scared to tell me…” Kara summed up, still darting her eyes across the floor while frowning very deeply, “…but you still got super pissed when I told you I was Supergirl!” Kara looked up at her, appearing to seek confirmation, but obviously she already knew he answer so Lena just hung her head. “Oooooh, that’s- that’s…” Kara seemed unable to say anything else as she huffed out an incredulous breath and put her hands on her hips, while shaking her head with a highly offended expression.

Lena nervously reached out to her. “Kara, I’m- I’m really sorry-”

“Just give me a second,” Kara motioned for her to stop and scrunched her eyes closed, as if she was very conflicted about something. “I really wanna hug you right now, but I also kinda wanna slap you. It’s very confusing.”

Lena let her hand fall back to her side as she nodded in understanding. “You’re mad at me,” she stated simply.

“Yes. No, I… wait… yes, no, I’m…” Kara kept opening and closing her mouth, apparently stuck between being offended and not being offended. And as serious as the situation was; as heavy as her heart was feeling right now, Lena still couldn’t help but think that this whole reaction was beyond adorable. _Seriously, Lena, not the time for this crap!_

“I’m mad.” Kara suddenly lifted her head and nodded to herself, as she turned back to Lena with her hands on her hips. “Yeah, no, I’m definitely mad at you.” Kara kept looking at her, but the convincing declaration of anger didn’t reach her eyes. She stood there; the hands on her hips reminiscent of her Supergirl pose, but her eyes kept darting between Lena’s as if she wanted nothing more than to hug her right now. Lena wasn’t quite sure how to react, because she felt like she should take Kara’s words seriously, especially at a time like this. But the way the woman was seemingly vibrating in place as if she was going to lunge forward and hug her senseless, all the while with that almost stubborn expression in place that was supposed to represent anger, still made Lena’s lips twitch.

“I understand,” Lena said simply, because seriously, what else was she supposed to say?

Kara didn’t say anything and instead kept standing there for a few seconds, conflicting body language and all. “I’m gonna storm out now,” she suddenly proclaimed.

“Wait… no, Kara!” She was too late to stop her, as the alien woman had already whisked past her and had walked out as the door slammed shut behind her. Lena stood here for a second, uncertain what she was feeling. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she knew for a fact that she was at least partially relieved. She was relieved that Kara hadn’t just bluntly told her she was a hypocrite and that she never wanted to see her again. On the other hand Kara said she was mad at her, which was also devastating. But then the way she said it was entirely too Kara-like and adorable and bottom line was Lena had no idea how she was supposed to-

“Lena!!” The alien woman suddenly barged back into the room, and Lena flinched in surprise as the door bounced off the wall and fell back into place behind Kara, who was now heaving like she’d run a marathon and suddenly seemed completely bewildered. “You can see dead people,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Yes,” Lena frowned as she stepped closer to the erratically breathing woman.

“You can see dead people,” Kara repeated.

“That’s… what I just said…”

“So… when I got shot…” Kara’s voice cracked and suddenly Lena wished she could be anywhere else. She wished she could be in prison, maybe thanks to that McConnell guy being entirely too prejudiced against her last name. She wished she could be in her mansion, regularly getting lashed by her mother again. She wished she could be in any place where she wouldn’t have to watch Kara put the pieces together. But she was seeing it right now. And it was horrible. “…when I got shot with Kryptonite…” Kara continued, her bottom lip starting to tremble, “you, with- with the gun…” Kara’s face contorted further and Lena braced herself. “It wasn’t a dream?”

Lena looked over the woman’s face, her expression seemingly begging her to protest. Begging her to offer another explanation, to dismiss everything and to say it wasn’t so. But Lena just swallowed, and because the lump in her throat wouldn’t let her say anything, she just looked down in shame and shook her head. And Lena didn’t want to look back up. She didn’t want to see the disappointment, or worse the pity in Kara’s eyes. Because she was officially a freak now, someone different from everyone else (as if she wasn’t enough so already). And she didn’t want to see any of that reflected in Kara’s eyes, because pity was the worst thing that humankind had ever invented and if there was one place she never wanted to see it, then it was in those blue eyes hiding behind their lead-lined glasses. But because Kara didn’t say anything else, didn’t make another sound, Lena was forced to look back up anyway. And what she saw was not exactly what she’d expected.

The shock she’d been prepared for. The disbelief on Kara’s face was something she’d been picturing and dreaming of the entire night, as she was plagued by nightmares of exactly how badly this could all go. So that wasn’t the thing that threw her quite as much. What surprised her was the complete devastation, the utter heartbreak, as if she’d confirmed all the woman’s worst fears. As if she’d been stashing Kryptonite somewhere and had attempted to murder Superman on multiple occasions. As if this was a personal affront, a complete betrayal. Lena wasn’t sure what it meant. But at the sight of Kara’s tears silently dropping, her own eyes started to burn anyway.

“Why?” Kara whimpered, and the heartbreak on her face was pure torture.

“You were dead,” Lena shrugged, her own voice not so steady anymore either. “I just didn’t see the point anymore…” there was a sudden gust of wind and suddenly Kara’s face was a lot closer, the tears oh so close and oh so visible, as the alien woman had grabbed the front of her jacket.

“AND HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ABOUT THAT?!” Kara yelled through her tears, her voice holding the anger that her crying eyes didn’t show. “YOU THINK IT’S EASY TO DIVE HEAD FIRST INTO DANGER WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THE CONSEQUENSES?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT NOW?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE BRAVE IF I’M CARRYING YOUR LIFE ON MY SHOULDERS?!”

“Kara…”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THAT?! THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME, YOU MIGHT NOT BE THERE WHEN I WAKE UP?!”

“Kara!!”

The alien woman gasped for air as she looked up at her and Lena swallowed as she clutched Kara’s forearms.

“Kara, could you… could you please put me down?” The alien woman inhaled a short, surprised breath upon realising that she’d lifted Lena up by the front of her jacket, and the youngest Luthor huffed in surprise when she suddenly got dropped back to the floor. Kara took a step back and seemed to shrink in on herself as she momentarily looked away while she removed her glasses and wiped at her face. And Lena tried to explain. Tried to make her understand even just a little. “Look, I… I know this might be hard to understand,” Lena stammered. “But… you were… no, you still are the best part of my life. And… after my dad… and then Lex, and then Jack… I just… I didn’t want to deal with losing the most important person in my life for a fourth time.”

“You think I don’t understand?!” Kara exclaimed, some anger returning to her voice, despite her expression still spelling heartbreak. “Lena…” she gestured up and down at herself, “last daughter of Krypton over here!”

“I- I know,” Lena swallowed, her heart constricting more and more at the sight of Kara in this state. “And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say… but… it’s fine,” Lena tried to reassure her. “I’m… I’m seeing a therapist and… I mean, he sucks, but-”

“And what about me?” Kara suddenly interrupted, as she stepped right into Lena’s space. “How did you think losing the most important person in my life would make _me_ feel?”

Lena faltered, her already shallow breaths catching in her throat. “I’m… the most important person in your life?”

“Yes, don’t you know that?” Kara’s hands were suddenly holding her face, and Lena opened her mouth but decided she didn’t trust herself to speak right now. So instead she just shook her head. “Well you are,” Kara insisted, her tear-filled eyes staring intently at Lena. “So please don’t die. Especially not like that.”

Lena just nodded as she looked down, not trusting the right words to come out of her mouth, as the embarrassment of the night before paled in comparison to what she was feeling right now. But at least she still cared. As much as she wasn’t an optimist, when Kara held her like this it was almost enough to make her believe that everything would be alright. And sure, tomorrow might prove her wrong and Kara might never treat her the same way again, but for now she was still here. And Lena was at least grateful for that.

“Just… maybe don’t tell Alex about the most important person part,” Kara said, chuckling lightly. “She might get madly jealous.” Lena let out a long sigh in response as she closed her eyes, because obviously Kara was trying to make her feel better by lightening the mood, but her words were a sudden and harsh reminder. A reminder that she’d forgotten about a crucial part of her revelation.

Alex…

“Kara…” she carefully removed the alien woman’s hands from her face as she forced herself to look into her eyes, “…there’s something else.” Lena swallowed as she watched Kara let out an incredulous huff.

“You’re kidding.”

Lena just shook her head and pressed on. “I just talked to Alex earlier. Her dad… Jeremiah’s here.”

“He escaped?! How did…” Lena silently shook her head at the woman, and she had to watch as Kara fell silent and the understanding dawned on her. The hopeful expression of the girl of steel quickly melting into sorrow. “No…” her eyes flitted to the left, where the wall that separated their room from that of the brides was, as her breath caught in her throat. “Alex…” she suddenly let go of Lena, and she was already halfway to the door when she suddenly stopped and turned around. She was giving Lena an unsure expression as her eyes darted between the youngest Luthor and the wall that separated her from her sister.

“It’s okay,” Lena assured her. “Go, she needs you.”

Kara’s expression turned more determined, but instead of walking out, she suddenly stepped right in front of her again. “Lena, before your mother’s attack, when we were in my apartment. Do you remember what you told me?” Kara kept staring at her intently, but Lena didn’t know what she was getting at, so she just stammered as she shrugged in response. “You said I could hold your hand whenever I felt lonely. Or any other time for that matter,” Kara reminded her. “Did you mean that?”

“Well… of course…”

“Good.” Kara suddenly clasped her left hand tightly and started guiding her to the door.

“Kara, what…?”

But the alien woman didn’t offer an explanation. She didn’t say anything, even as she walked out of the room, dragging Lena along with her, and right into the arms of her sister next door. And all the while she never let go of her hand. Not as she hugged her sister with one arm, not as they cried together, not as they sat down together and started bringing up old memories of the brief time where they’d shared a father. Through it all, Lena sat as far away from the two as she could, despite the alien woman still holding onto her hand, only speaking when Jeremiah had something to add, a memory of his own to reminisce on, a perspective to share. Which Lena would dutifully relay to the crying Danvers sisters. And Lena stayed as she watched the scene carry on, feeling terribly out of place. But Kara had apparently decided that she needed her here for this. Or maybe she just didn’t trust to leave her alone anymore. But whatever the reason, she kept clutching her hand like her life depended on it. And Lena let her, for whatever reason. But let’s be real, she knew very well why she let her.

Because it was Kara.

  

* * *

 

 

The wedding was postponed several hours.

And not just because Alex needed some time. Apparently all the roads to the church had flooded as well, so now a random hall in the hotel was being transformed into an approximation of a wedding ceremony. The staff had brought in several small portable gas heaters to deal with the cold, while the manager had spent most of the time profusely apologising for the inconvenience with a face that basically screamed ‘please don’t sue us’.

Lena thought she still might.

What they also found out, was that the kitchen only worked with electrical stoves and that they had somehow also been affected by the malfunctioning grid, meaning that the food at the reception would consist mostly of various salads. In any other situation, Lena would have laughed out loud at the face Kara pulled upon hearing the news.

Eventually, a makeshift aisle was formed, as the guests finally were able to sit down in the various chairs hoarded from all over the hotel. Lena had no idea how they’d managed to cough up a priest this fast, but there was one here now; hastily buttoning her robe as Kara and Lena stepped up to the front of the congregation and to the small podium the staff had constructed there, which Lena assumed was supposed to serve as an altar in this scenario. It was only up here that Kara eventually agreed to let go of her hand, as Lena calmly explained that she was supposed to be standing beside Maggie while Kara stood by Alex, and in the end, the alien woman reluctantly let go. And Lena felt slightly relieved. Because in the split second that they were standing there hand in hand, with a large congregation on one side and a priest on the other while Eliza Danvers gave them a curious look from the front row, her mind was already going places it shouldn’t.

Lena was quickly brought back to earth though, when Maggie suddenly appeared beside them in full ceremonial police uniform, while looking slightly troubled. “Hey,” Kara greeted, “how’s Alex doing?”

“Less than spectacular,” Maggie replied, while nervously adjusting her sleeves. And Lena could instantly feel the guilt start gnawing away at her again.

Before she could get lost in those thoughts however, the doors on the other side of the room opened and Alex Danvers stepped inside with Jeremiah following right behind. The dress was wonderful, the looks on the guests’ faces was nothing but adoration as they all got on their feet, the smile of J’onn J’onzz was as wide as it could be as the bride stepped next to him, but even from this distance Lena could see that Alex looked highly emotional. And she supposed most people would read it as an ‘I’m about to get married’ kind of emotional. But Lena was pretty sure that wasn’t the case. As a matter of fact, she was more than sure.

Because as the woman stepped up to J’onn and he linked his right arm with her left, she paused. She seemed to look Lena dead in the eye for a second, before glancing to her right, where the man that was invisible to her was standing. She slowly clasped her hands together, extending her right elbow the same way her left was bent to link with J’onn’s arm. And Lena could almost see the light bulb go off in Jeremiah’s head. He quickly stepped next to his daughter, and linked his ghostly arm with Alex’s living right. The bride looked at Lena again, an unspoken question in her eyes, seeking confirmation.

Lena nodded, and if anything, Alex only seemed closer to her emotions flooding out of her.

The walk through the aisle was silent, apart from the clicks of James Olsen’s camera. Everybody watched as Alex was guided through the makeshift aisle of borrowed hotel chairs with J’onn on her left side, while only Lena was able to see Jeremiah accompanying her on her right. They arrived at the stand-in altar, both Jeremiah and J’onn unlinking their arms, as the Martian took a seat on the front row next to Eliza and the ghostly man remained standing beside his daughter. Maggie took hold of both of the woman’s hands as they stood face to face, and the priest rattled off some generic monologue about marriage.

Lena swallowed, because Alex still seemed unfocused, her eyes flitting around when they weren’t firmly trained on the floor, almost as if she’d be able to see her father standing somewhere with her own eyes. Lena looked warily at the highly emotional state of the woman, which never changed even as the youngest Luthor passed the rings to Maggie and the two women put them on each other’s fingers. But when the priest closed her little book and stopped talking, all eyes were suddenly on Alex as she was supposed to go first with her vows. The silence extended, and Lena’s heart was feeling heavier by the second, as Alex just kept looking at the floor, seemingly trying her hardest not to cry while her father gave her a sad look that she didn’t get to see.

“So how about I start?” Maggie suddenly proclaimed, causing the entire congregation’s attention to fall onto her. Except for Alex, whose eyes were still fixed on the floor. “Alex… babe, look at me.” The secret agent in the wedding dress did just that, and Maggie gave her an encouraging smile, rubbing her thumbs over the back of the woman’s hands that she was still holding. “You already know that I love you. You know that you’re already my family and that signing a piece of paper is basically just bureaucracy at this point. But I also want to say that I’m sorry, because I know this isn’t how you saw your wedding day going.” Maggie’s eyes briefly flitted to the side, and they actually went very close to where the ghostly man was standing. “I wanted everything to be perfect for you, because that’s what you deserve,” she continued. “But to be honest… I think this is more fitting.”

Confusion flashed across Alex’s face, but Maggie just gave her a dimpled grin in response.

“You and me, we’ve got a pair of crazy jobs, Danvers. There will always be some catastrophe going on. There’s gonna be days when the weather’s crap,” she nodded to the side at one of the windows, where the rain kept stubbornly clattering against the other side of it. “With your cooking skills, I can _guarantee_ that there’s gonna be days when our food gets ruined,” she smirked and Alex actually gave a weak smile at that. “And there might be days when our heater breaks. Although I seriously hope it doesn’t happen too often, because I don’t know about the rest of you,” Maggie briefly turned to the people in attendance, “but I couldn’t feel my toes last night.” A burst of laughter filled the hall, as the guests nodded in agreement, and Alex managed to laugh at her fiancée as well. “The point is, babe, that I don’t care about the sunshine, about good food or even… proper circulation.” She shrugged and Alex actually let out another chuckle. “I really don’t care… as long as you’re there with me to complain about it. As long as I’ve got you… I’m gonna be good.”

The silence returned, apart from a few people in attendance blowing their nose and one of them letting out an exaggeratedly loud sob (in a voice that sounded a suspicious lot like Mesut). Alex, however, seemed to have learned how to smile again, as she wiped at her eyes and let out a small huff as she shook her head.

“Goddamn it, Sawyer.” She let out another small laugh. “You pick today of all days to turn into freaking Shakespeare?” Maggie shrugged, as Alex just beamed back at her. “I just… I love you, Maggie. I love you so much…” she opened and closed her mouth a few times, her eyes darting over the attendance for a moment, before turning back to Maggie. “I… I’m sorry, I… I don’t know what else to say.” She shrugged. “I love you…”

“Hey,” Maggie seemed to squeeze her hands in reassurance, “it’s okay, Alex. That’s all I need to know.” They just stood there smiling at each other, and Lena was the only one that got to see Jeremiah Danvers wipe away a tear at the sight. The two women just kept looking at each other adoringly, as the people in attendance smiled at the scene. Even the priest seemed to be caught up in the moment, because it took a gentle nudge from Kara to remind her that this was her cue.

“Oh… right.” The woman in the robe cleared her throat. “Do you, Alexandra Juliette Danvers, take Margarita Elena Sawyer to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Alex breathed solemnly.

“And do you, Margarita Elena Sawyer, take Alexandra Juliette Danvers to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Then I hereby pronounce you wife, and wife. The brides may kiss.”

A loud eruption of cheers rose up from the small hotel ballroom, the loudest of all coming from Kara, as everyone got on their feet and applauded loudly while Maggie and Alex shared a kiss. The cheering continued, as the priest respectfully stepped away and Winn whistled loudly. James’s camera was clicking away like crazy, and the loud blearing of someone crying was now very audible. And as Lena looked over, she saw that it was indeed Mesut who was unabashedly crying at the very back of the room while clapping way too enthusiastically for someone who’d known Maggie for all but four weeks. Lena fondly shook her head and chuckled, as the two brides turned to the cheering crowd and raised their joined hands above their heads, smiling widely at the congregation. But Lena’s smile quickly faded. She faltered, because she saw Jeremiah smiling widely at his daughter, all the while clapping his hands together with pride in his eyes, despite his motions not making any noise… and he was starting to emit light.

Lena hesitated for a split second. But she’d brought it this far, so she decided she couldn’t start ignoring inconvenient occurrences at this point. She quickly stepped away from her side of the podium, and stepped behind Alex who was still smiling widely at the crowd with Maggie’s hand in her own. “Alex…” Lena whispered, as loudly as she dared, “…your father’s passing on.”

Lena swallowed as the woman seemed to freeze. She couldn’t see her face, but she seemed to completely stiffen, and what happened next went so fast she almost missed it. But then she realised that Winn had seen what was happening. That he’d jumped to his feet and had whispered something into James’s ear. And that he’d loudly yelled ‘group hug!’ as he and James stepped up to the podium, the taller man’s large frame effectively shielding the two brides from the audience’s view. And as Lena watched the two men form a human curtain for Alex to hide behind, Lena could honestly say she loved her sidekick to pieces.

“There’s light coming from inside him,” Lena explained, as she watched the man continuing to give his daughter that revering look while he kept up his soundless clapping. “And it’s covering him up.” Lena looked through the small space under Winn’s arm, as she saw the light slowly move over the man’s body and meld together on his stomach. “It’s separating… the light, it’s- it’s splitting off into smaller pieces,” Lena continued to explain, as she watched the man’s figure start to pull apart into those familiar glowing orbs of light. And she kept looking as they floated away from each other and hung motionless in the air for a moment. “They’re fading,” Lena all but whispered, as she watched the light dim further and further, until eventually all of them disappeared. Not a trace left of the ghost of Jeremiah Danvers. “He’s gone.”

Lena watched as Alex’s shoulders started shaking, and she got wrapped up in a hug by all her friends. Maggie held her close as she let the woman rest her head on her shoulder. Kara hugged the her from behind, including Maggie in the hug as well. While James and Winn put their arms around the three of them, still effectively shielding them from the clapping crowd of guests. Lena swallowed nervously, trying to step back from the scene. Tried to remove herself from a moment she wasn’t a part of. But she couldn’t do it. Because Kara had reached back and had grabbed hold of her hand again. And as she tugged her closer without even looking back, Winn’s arm was suddenly on her shoulder and Maggie sent her a small smile while still consoling Alex. And Lena realised that she had missed something amidst all her worrying. Which she should probably be forgiven for, since it was still a relatively new thing. She’d just never really had this happen to her on this scale of quantity and gravity before:

Friends that needed her.

  

* * *

 

 

The food wasn't terrible.

That was the one positive Lena tried to hold on to, as she watched guest after guest step up to the newlyweds and congratulate them. It had taken a while for the couple to get to the nearby ballroom where the reception was being held, despite the fact it wasn't all that far from where they'd just had the improvised ceremony. And Lena suspected it was because Alex had needed another minute. Lena was trying and failing to not let that guilty feeling take hold of her. She swallowed as Alex and Maggie started walking up to her, and she figured it would be rude if she just turned around and ran for the hills. Not that that was possible, since Kara was still gripping her hand right now, not having let go since the wedding ceremony earlier.

“Um, Lena?” The youngest Luthor looked up, finding Alex in front of her with Maggie by her side. “Just… thank you.” Alex actually tried to give a small smile. “I… know we haven't always… gotten along. At all. But… I always found it hard to imagine this day without my dad. So just… thank you.” Alex shrugged, not able to find other words, so Lena just nodded back.

“Don't mention it.”

They just kept standing in front of each other, awkwardly looking anywhere but in each other’s eyes, while Kara and Maggie kept looking between them like proud parents whose toddlers were learning to interact with other kids. However, at that point someone saw fit to loudly proclaim it was time for the first dance between the two brides. And everyone else seemed to agree as they started gathering around the dancefloor.

“Wait,” Alex gently tugged Maggie back as she was about to lead her to the floor. “You pick a song.”

Maggie paused as she frowned at her wife. “But I thought-”

“I know,” Alex interjected. “But it reminds me of my dad.” She gave a sad smile. “I just… can you pick something else? Something that's only ours?”

Maggie sighed, smiling in understanding as she placed a kiss on the back of the woman's hand. “You got it, Danvers.”

“Hey,” Alex tugged her back again, “that's Mrs. Danvers to you.”

The detective showed off a dimpled grin as she briefly  stepped back to plant a kiss on her wife’s lips, before walking over to the audio setup and talk to the DJ. (Apparently she had, quote: ‘Let Alex have that one.’) Once Maggie stepped back to the dancefloor where Alex was waiting for her, all the guests had finally assembled around the floor as they looked on in silence. Lena and Kara stood front and centre while the alien woman squeezed Lena’s hand in excitement, as the music started playing.

 

 

Maggie theatrically extended her hand with a smirk and Alex smiled broadly as she stepped up to her. As she took Maggie’s hand, the woman instantly pulled her closer and they slowly started swaying back and forward. Lena looked on as Maggie seemed to whisper into Alex’s ear and when she asked about it later, the detective would explain she’d been telling her the lyrics. They moved together over the dancefloor as one, under the loving gazes of Eliza, J’onn, James and even Mesut, who was still sniffling as he watched the brides dance by. And Lena just kept looking on, as she breathed a sigh of relief.

“You okay?” Kara suddenly questioned, causing Lena to look at her.

“Yeah…” Lena cleared her throat, because her voice had sounded shaky at best. “I’m just glad I didn’t ruin everything.” She turned back to smile at the dancing newlyweds, so she missed the confusion that flashed over Kara’s face.

“What do you mean?” the alien woman questioned.

“I meant… Jeremiah,” Lena explained quietly, still entranced by the dancing figures of Maggie and her new wife. “I’m just glad Alex is mostly okay and… that I didn’t ruin the wedding. I worried, you know.” Lena shrugged lightly. “I had to go and pick the one hotel with poor electrical wiring for them, and then I had to go and reduce one of the brides to an emotional mess a few hours for the ceremony, so I’m just glad-”

“Can you stop doing that?”

Lena blinked in confusion, tearing her eyes away from the sight of Alex and Maggie moving together over the dancefloor as she shot Kara a confused look. And the alien woman looked back at her with an almost pained expression. But also with a determination that made Lena’s heart skip a beat, as the alien woman turned away from her sister’s dance and faced the youngest Luthor fully.

“Can you just… can you stop blaming yourself for things that aren’t your fault?” Kara whispered with intent. “Cause it hurts…” Kara suddenly brought Lena’s hand up between them, pressing it over her own heart, “…right here.”

Lena’s breath hitched in her throat, and she was vaguely aware that it must look strange that they were ignoring the brides sharing their first dance. But Lena’s attention was currently being pulled deep into the honest blue eyes that were staring at her own, as she could feel both their hearts beating fast; her own rattling against her ribs, while she could feel Kara’s beat away under the hand that the alien woman was still keeping pressed against her chest. And Lena was confused, because with Kara so close to her, her eyes so intently staring at her and the music swelling in the background, she knew for a fact why _her_ heart was beating like crazy. But it didn’t explain why Kara would be nervous. Maybe it was the aforementioned music, maybe it was just her imagination, but it looked like Kara was getting even closer. Lena’s eyes fluttered, as she seemed to drown in the blue that were Kara’s eyes, while the woman’s face was definitely a lot closer now. And then-

“You guys are so lucky.”

Lena flinched in surprise and even the woman with Super-powered senses seemed to startle as they both jumped back a few inches and Kara actually let go of her hand. Lena swallowed as she looked to the side, where Winn was looking dreamily between them, and it was painfully obvious that he’d had a bit too much to drink.

“I mean Maggie and Alex are too, obviously,” Winn slurred, motioning at the dancefloor with his champagne flute while shifting unsteadily on his feet. “But sometimes I just don’t get Lyra, you know?” he whined as he seemed to turn his attention to Lena. “One second she’s, like, the clingiest girlfriend ever, and the next she doesn’t wanna come to Alex’s wedding.” Winn shook his head, as he pointed a finger at the youngest Luthor. “But you’re lucky,” he slurred. “At least _your_ girlfrie-”

“Okay!” Lena interrupted, not so delicately slapping her hand over his mouth. “I think someone’s had enough to drink tonight,” she went for a dismissive chuckle and hoped that it sounded convincing, as she shot a nervous smile back at Kara. “Come on, you definitely need to lie down,” Lena proclaimed as she started dragging Winn away. “I’ll, um… I’ll be right back,” she said over her shoulder, as Kara just bit her lip and nodded in return. And Lena swallowed as she turned back and started forcefully dragging Winn back to his room, actually thankful for his drunken interruption. Because she was about 90 percent sure that she’d been about to do something incredibly stupid.

As Lena stepped towards the exit of the ballroom with Winn on her arm, she didn’t notice everyone applauding the brides when the song finished. She didn’t notice Kara missing it as well, as she was still looking after Lena. Neither of them noticed J’onn stepping in for a dance with Alex, nor did they notice Maggie stepping off the dancefloor and curiously walk up to the younger Danvers sister.

“Little Danvers? You okay there?”

“Yeah…” Kara let out a long sigh, still looking at Lena’s retreating form, “…I’m fine.”

“Right.” Maggie frowned, looking between Kara and the place she was staring at. Then a grin slowly formed on her lips. “So… you want some champagne?”

“No,” Kara responded distractedly, while still looking ahead. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Really?” Maggie questioned, as her grin turned mischievous. “Cause you sure look thirsty.”

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

_The night before_

 

A loud buzzing sound startled Alex from her sleep. She lunged out of bed, grabbing her phone to silence the alarm before it woke up Maggie, as she shivered at the absurdly low temperature of their room. She didn’t pay too much attention to it, however, nor to her phone telling her it was 2:30 AM, which meant her wedding was now only eight and a half hours away. Instead she spurted to their giant walk-in closet, quickly rummaging through her bag and pulling out the small monitor she’d hidden there. And she quickly turned it on, eager to find out what had triggered the motion sensors that she’d linked to her phone. The small screen before her lit up, showing an angled top down view of the hotel bedroom next door. Alex already had her gun in hand, ready to intervene when it became clear what the hell that woman was doing to reduce her sister to an emotional mess all the time, but instead she was met with the sight of Lena Luthor being soundly asleep.

Alex let out a sigh, slumping to sit on the floor and pulling her beanie further over her head in frustration more than anything. Because all that trouble of installing that camera and those sensors before those two had arrived at the hotel, and so far the most interesting thing she’d found out was that Lena Luthor slept on her side. Terrific. Alex frowned at the screen as the two single beds were a lot closer then she remembered them being, and since Kara was probably the only one strong enough to get those beds from their spot, she supposed she must’ve been the one to put them so close together that there was now only about a foot and a half of space between them.

Just as she noticed that the other bed was actually empty, her phone suddenly buzzed loudly again and Alex scrambled to silence it once more. And as she turned back towards the tiny screen, she noticed that the alien with a glass of water in her hand must’ve been the one to trigger her sensors twice. Alex shook her head at her sister’s image on the screen, who emptied her glass before putting it on the floor. (finally something dangerous going on. woohoo.) Alex kept frowning in near-accusation at her sister who was sitting on the edge of her bed and staring at the youngest Luthor, for being an incredible anti-climax to her awesomely laid out spying mission. But then Kara suddenly started talking.

_“I think maybe I should talk to Jess,”_ the alien woman’s whispered voice sounded from the monitor, and Alex raised her eyebrows at the image. _“You know, set the record straight.”_ She suddenly struggled to suppress a snort. _“Straight… that was… unintentional,”_ the alien woman cleared her throat. _“I’m sorry, this is not funny, right? Well, I mean it’s a little funny, isn’t it?”_

Alex just kept shaking her head at the screen, because this was exactly the sort of crap she was concerned about. Why the hell was Kara talking to a sleeping Lena Luthor?! Seriously, that woman _had_ to be messing with her head somehow! She kept watching as Kara wriggled herself into the space between the two beds and onto her knees, resting her arms on Lena’s mattress with her head resting on top of them.

_“I mean, I suppose explaining to her that she’s wrong wouldn’t help with the dreams,”_ Kara continued in the same hushed tone, while the youngest Luthor slept through it all. _“But I just don’t understand why she would think something like that. It just seems so random, you know? Like that would ever happen. Not that people shouldn’t want to, you know… with you…”_ Kara briefly lifted her arm to make a vague gesture and Alex rolled her eyes, because seriously Kara, the woman was sleeping!

_“I mean, obviously I meant what I said; you’re beautiful. Not that people should only care about what you look like, of course,”_ she amended quickly. _“Obviously there are other reasons. Like how you keep saving the world, for instance. Or how… how you always do the right thing, even if no one ever bothers to thank you. I mean, Rao, if the people I saved kept looking at me like I was going to do something bad any second I would get super angry. But you just carry on like it’s normal and Rao, I really wish you wouldn’t think it was normal. But you have patience for miles… yes, that’s what I was trying to say: you’re patient. And you’re brave.”_ Kara let out a sigh. _“You’re so very brave… And then of course there’s the way you kept standing up to your mother, even though I know you still cared about her. But, man… your mother…”_ the alien woman huffed out an angry breath, trying to contain herself, but the noise made the youngest Luthor suddenly stir a little.

Kara froze for a moment, but then she let out a hushed chuckle. _“Your nose just twitched.”_ She let out another soft giggle, before moving her arms closer as she rested her head on them again. _“Well, anyway… Jess obviously doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I mean, what could she have possibly seen? Hand holding? Hugs? Big deal. If it was true, we’d be doing… well, you know… more…”_ she huffed out another tiny breath. _“But I never even… thought about… I mean, those dreams are clearly Jess’s fault. Like, here…”_ she scooted her arms even closer to the sleeping Luthor. _“See? Nothing. I don’t want… I mean… I wouldn’t…”_ she audibly swallowed, before letting out a shaky breath, _“really… that is… shouldn’t…”_

Kara appeared to have forgotten that her mouth was still forming whispered words, as she stared intently at her best friend’s sleeping face. Her breaths got heavier though, as if she was nervous, despite just sitting still in between those two single beds. She sat motionless for a while, the only sound being Lena’s soft and sleepy breaths and Kara’s increasingly loud ones.

Then all of a sudden, Kara lifted her head from her arms and kissed Lena on the lips.

Someone made a soft, breathy sound, and it must’ve been Lena because Kara instantly pulled herself back, as the youngest Luthor shifted in her sleep. The alien woman sat completely still for a moment, but when Lena settled into place again, she suddenly super-speeded her way into her own bed. She pulled the comforter up under her chin while one hand appeared from under it to cover her mouth, her eyes staring in disbelief at the ceiling as if she couldn’t believe what just happened. Even on the tiny black and white screen, the intensely dark shade forming on her cheeks was perfectly visible.

Meanwhile, Alex just sat on the floor of her closet as she looked at the tiny monitor with her eyes almost popping out of her head.

 

What. The actual. Fuck.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for the first dance is Tu canción by Amaia y Alfred. If you don't see the audio player or if it doesn't work for some reason, try switching browser or disabling adblock and otherwise send a support ticket to the archive. Because there's a few scenes in later chapters that would be a real shame to read without the audio.
> 
> Next week: Kara and Lena both go on risky missions.


	8. Prince Lar Gand

_November 27 th 2017_

 

Things were different.

Not in an overwhelmingly obvious way, but things were slightly different. Lena still spent her days at CatCo, she still spent most evenings in her lab trying to get into that stupid Daxam Drive and either Kara, Jess, or a combined attack by both of them was usually still necessary to get her out of there. Some details were different, though. Like Kara holding her hand at every opportunity. And not just when they were within the safe confines of Kara’s apartment either. She’d seen fit to drag her to the lake during last week’s lunch (she was pretty sure there were ducks involved in her argument) but all Lena really remembered was the fact that Kara hadn’t let go of her hand until they’d gotten back to L-Corp. She even had to aggressively shake her head at Jess when they’d walked out the elevator, because the woman had looked like she was about to joyfully exclaim something really stupid at the sight of their joined hands.

In some of her more cynical moods, Lena thought that it was probably Kara being overbearing. That the woman was afraid to leave her alone after finding out what had really happened at the DEO following Lillian’s attack. But to be honest, it was hard to keep up that sort of pessimism when Kara seemed to find ways to spend any second of either of their spare time together. And being around Kara was obviously never a bad thing.

The other main thing that was different were the frequent visits to the DEO, made possible thanks to the fact that Alex didn’t give her the evil eye anymore. Not that she was there to socialize with her (she highly doubted they’d ever be close friends) but more so because of some interesting technology they had over there. Some technology that made her own attempts at recreating otherworldly portals completely superfluous, and whose existence a certain idiot had completely failed to mention to her.

_(“Why didn’t you tell me you had a fully functional transmatter portal at the DEO?!!”)_

_(“You never asked!!”)_

So that’s how Lena and her trusted sidekick ended up in front of said transmatter portal, readjusting the transmitter beam to be accompanied by a reciprocal tracking signal.

“All right,” Winn huffed, putting the cover back in place over the exposed wires of the control panel, “so you think this should be able to connect us with Maaldoria?”

Lena sighed, adjusting the parameters on her tablet and triple checking all of it. “Assuming your coordinates are correct, yes.”

“Well, they _should_ be correct,” Winn mumbled, still screwing the back of the control panel back together. “We know where Maaldoria is, obviously, but the exact location of the portal is more of an educated guess.”

“It’s fine,” Lena absentmindedly waved her hand as she refocused on her tablet, “even if we can’t make contact at the first try, it’s just a loose signal. No harm done.”

“Well, yeah,” Winn drawled, “but if you overcharge the tracking signal you might overheat-”

“I know what I’m doing!” Lena interrupted, pausing her movements to give the man a warning look. Winn raised his hands defensively.

“All right, all right, it’s cool. No need to take out your deep internal struggle on me…”

Lena stopped her movements again, her stare turning annoyed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, well you know… this whole thing about getting Kara to see her ex again… while you’d probably much rather keep them as far away as possible…” Winn summed up, his tone light, but his eyes searching Lena’s expression.

“I just… want Kara to be happy,” she protested, looking over the imposing portal. “And besides, for all we know they’re not even really… exes. I mean, he had to leave, he didn’t…” Lena huffed, giving up on trying to finish that sentence. “Just hit the code and let’s give it a try,” she grumbled.

Winn looked unconvinced, but he moved in front of the panel anyway and started typing in the coordinates. “All right then… here goes nothing.” He dramatically slammed his entire hand on the panel (Lena knew for a fact that was completely unnecessary), and the large portal beside them instantly lit up, the purple light casting the room in an eerie glow. “Okay… okay…” Winn nervously muttered, moving beside Lena and checking the tablet over her shoulder. “So the tracking signal has been sent, and if it finds a transmatter portal on its path then it should-” he was cut off by the tablet in Lena’s hand buzzing loudly, as their tracker beam sent back an affirmative signal. Both of them were completely stunned for a moment.

“It worked,” Lena huffed incredulously.

“Ha! Of course it worked! We’re geniuses!”

Lena quirked an eyebrow at the man. “I see modesty still isn’t your-” she choked on the rest of her sentence, as suddenly a figure fell through the portal. It looked like he had jumped through at an alarming speed, as he rolled over the floor as if he’d been launched from a cannon before sliding to a stop a few feet in front of them. Lena instantly jumped back at this unknown entity appearing out of the depths of space, but Winn was giving her a weird look.

“Lena?” he questioned. “What’s wrong?”

It clicked almost instantly. Not just because of Winn’s total non-reaction, but also because now that the figure was slowly getting up and started looking around the room, Lena suddenly recognised him.

“Your highness?!”

  

* * *

 

 

“A revolution?!”

Lena nodded patiently, as she explained the situation to Alex who had gotten there later than the rest and was now giving her an incredulous look while standing beside her sister. Her sister who was already decked out in Supergirl gear and was all set to go.

“Yes,” Lena sighed, glancing over at the ghostly alien who was pacing restlessly. “Apparently Mon-el has been trying to restructure Maaldoria,” she explained, “and like you predicted most of the inhabitants apparently listened to him, because he’s technically their king now. But when he started dismantling the slave trade, some of the richer merchants got angry because their main source of income got shut down. And apparently they started a rebellion, and now they have this big plan to try and take him out tonight.”

Alex frowned at her. “And you know this because…”

“Because his father’s ghost fell through your portal and told me!” she hissed, glancing at the nearby agents who were thankfully out of earshot, before looking at the ghost in question again, who was still pacing back and forward. Lena sighed, and sent an accusatory glance towards Kara. “And apparently your sister thinks it’s perfectly reasonable to try and stop a revolution by herself, even when she doesn’t have any powers on the aforementioned planet.”

“I won’t be alone, I’ll have back-up! Plus yellow sun grenades!” Kara protested. She turned to her sister. “Alex, please tell her that me going along is only reasonable.”

“Why do I need to convince her?” Alex questioned distractedly as she adjusted her belt and holstered an alien-looking gun. “It’s not like she can stop you.” When she was met with silence she looked up, noticing Lena frowning at her and Kara looking offended. “I just meant…” she groaned and shook her head. “Look, Lena… we’re taking an entire team of agents along, plus that girl from the future, so everything is going to be fine.” She stepped closer and paused, before giving Lena an awkward pat on the shoulder. “I’m, uh… gonna go see if the team is ready.” She proceeded to step away and towards the team of agents that were gathered nearby, while Kara and Lena looked after her in slight disbelief.

“Wow,” Kara huffed. “I never thought I’d see Alex have a civilized conversation with you.” She turned to Lena with a wide smile, but the young CEO was still staring ahead in mild shock.

“I’m sorry…” Lena forced out, “but… did she just say ‘girl from the future’?!”

“Oh yeah. I didn’t mention that?”

Lena silently shook her head, not sure how these airheads managed to forget about things like transmatter portals just sitting around collecting dust, or those tiny, pesky little details like, you know, _freakin’ time travel!!_

Lena cleared her throat, deciding to definitely come back to the subject later, as she watched Kara glance back at her sister. “How is she doing?” Lena questioned carefully, causing Kara to turn back to her. “You know… with Jeremiah and everything.”

“Oh, well… she’s doing okay, for the most part,” Kara said unsurely. “I mean, now that we actually found his body it’s Eliza who’s doing worse, but…” Kara paused, letting out a breath as she scratched her head. “But it’s really weird, she keeps asking me how _I’m_ doing. Obviously we talked a lot, and you know… I find it hard to believe he’s gone too…” Lena reached out and almost instinctively held the woman’s hand, the gesture almost being automatic since a few weeks. Kara briefly flashed a sad smile before continuing. “But even after talking about it for hours she keeps asking me: ‘Is there _anything at all_ you would like to tell me?’ And then she asks me again. And again. And again.” Kara sighed as she shook her head. “I just don’t get it, it’s like she’s fishing for me to say something specific, but I’m completely lost over here.”

Lena was about to reassure her that it would all work out. And she knew that was an irresponsible promise to make, but comforting words were more important than logic sometimes. Which was rather ironic, since Lena found logic the most comforting thing in the world. (Well, maybe apart from the sensation of Kara’s hand holding her own, but that was neither here nor there.) Before she could convey any sort of reassuring sentiment however, she was startled by a voice coming from close by.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s actually you.”

Lena blinked, turning her head in surprise at the very British-sounding voice and finding that it belonged to a woman with dark hair and dark eyes, who was wearing some sort of black gear and looking at her in suspiciously revering fashion. “I’m sorry,” Lena drawled, narrowing her eyes at the woman, “and you are?”

“Oh, my- my name is Imra Ardeen,” the woman breathed in that same revering tone. “I can’t tell you what an honour it is to meet you, I wasn’t sure I’d actually get to see this era in person.”

Lena frowned as she looked halfway back to Kara. “Is she the…?”

“The girl from the future. Yes, that would be her,” Kara affirmed.

“I’m sorry, I’m… I’m obviously not allowed to tell you about the future, but… seeing you both here working together, it’s just…” she huffed out a breath, “…it’s really surreal.”

Lena gave a tight-lipped smile, not sure how she should take that. Was there a future where Kara and her would _not_ work together? That would be just absurd, wouldn’t it?

“Well, of course we help each other,” Kara gave a broad smile. “That’s what friends are for!”

The woman completely froze for a second. She darted her eyes unsurely between the two women in front of her, and Lena thought that if she really wasn’t supposed to give anything away about the future they should probably stop talking to each other. Because she seemed about as skilled as Kara when it came to hiding her emotions. “That’s what… friends… you mean that… you haven’t even…” Imra kept darting her eyes between the two of them and Lena threw a glance sideways, finding Kara equally confused, as this was starting to get weird. “Oh, wow, I had no idea we went that far back, I just…” she shook her head and seemingly stopped herself.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked, half-concerned, half-wary.

“Yes, no, I’m just…” she huffed out an incredulous laugh. “I’m fine, I just…” she gave the two of them a weird look, “…I sure hope I’ll be here to see it.”

Lena frowned. “See wh-”

“I’m sorry, I- I’ve said too much already,” Imra stammered as she started backing away. “Don’t worry about it.” She shot them one last nervous smile, before moving towards the collection of agents that were listening to Alex’s instructions.

“Well, she’s… odd,” Lena commented.

“It’s going to be fine,” Kara reassured her again. “She apparently founded a legion of Superheroes, so we’re gonna be in good hands.”

“Hm…” Lena frowned, still not happy about the whole situation. Then she suddenly had a thought. “I think I should come with you,” she proclaimed.

“What?! No, no. Nope, no way.”

“It makes sense,” Lena insisted. “With me there, we can use King Lar Gand to spy on any possible-”

“Prince.”

Lena blinked at the interruption as she turned to the ghost beside her. “What?”

The ghostly alien cleared his throat, before elaborating: “Due to my death, my son has now taken his place as regent of the lost kingdom of Daxam. Thus my title of King has passed on to him, which leaves me with the title reserved for regents who have left their power in other’s hands: that of Prince Lar Gand.”

“Right…” Lena shook her head at the superfluous information before turning back to Kara. “I was saying that we can use him as a spy to-”

“We’re all set!” Alex suddenly loudly proclaimed from across the room. “Winn, you ready?” The man gave her a nod from behind the panel, before slamming his entire hand against it (still completely unnecessary), causing the large portal to light up with that purple glow. “Kara, come on, let’s go,” Alex beckoned, already standing in front of the portal. Kara sighed as she turned back to Lena.

“Look, if we take you along, I’m just going to spend the whole time worrying something is going to happen to you.” Lena just sighed in response, not sure how she should feel about that. “It’s gonna be fine,” Kara insisted. “We’ll go over there, squash a rebellion, and be back before dinner, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Lena huffed out a humourless laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever not worry.”

Kara didn’t answer. Instead she gave her an understanding smile and hugged her close.

“Before dark, Supergirl!”

“Coming, coming!”

Kara shook her head as she stepped back from Lena and next to her sister. She gave one last wave to Lena before jumping through the purple light, then Alex followed and after her all the agents, the girl from the future and another dark-haired girl in a blue sort of uniform went through one by one. While that was happening, _Prince_ Lar Gand stepped back up to Lena.

“I need to go back,” he said seriously. “I cannot thank you enough for the times you helped my son. I just wish I could do something in return.”

Lena gave him a smile. “Don’t mention…” she stopped herself as she suddenly realised something. “Actually… do you remember the Daxam Drive I took from your ship with Mon-el?”

“Well… yes.”

“How do I get in to it?!” Lena asked intently. Because that thing was starting to drive her nuts. Pun definitely not intended.

“Oh… it has a fail-safe to prevent intrusion from alien entities, but it’s pretty basic. You just need to cut the green wire.”

Lena took a moment to gape at the ghostly alien. “That’s… that’s it?”

“Yes.” The man just stood there, no hint of irony on his face, and Lena wasn’t sure whether she should laugh at herself or kick herself for not figuring that out. “Well, I should go,” the former king of Daxam said as he glanced behind them at the group of agents of which there were only a few left now. “It was good to see you again, Ms. Luthor.” With that, he turned around and jumped through the portal just before the very last agent did the same, leaving the room a lot emptier than before.

Lena stood there for a second while Winn powered down the portal and the purple light disappeared, realising that she would finally be able to get access to revolutionary technology, before remembering that Kara was on a planet where she didn’t have her powers. And where she would come face to face with her ex-boyfriend again. Who might not be that much of an ex.

So much for her good mood lasting more than half a second.

“Well, now we just wait until they send us the signal that they want to come back,” Winn said.

“Hm…” Lena swallowed, a scary thought suddenly entering her mind. “She’ll come back, right?” she asked, all of a sudden not so certain of the answer, as Winn gave her a confused frown. “I mean… with Mon-el being there…”

“Pfft…” Winn scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Come one, like she would do that! I mean, Mon-el is cool and everything, but she’s not just going to _abandon earth_ for him.” He shook his head at the youngest Luthor. “Honestly, the things you say sometimes…”

Lena was about to protest, when her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind her. “Agent Schott, Ms. Luthor,” an agent in black proclaimed from the doorway, and Lena was pretty sure that that one was called Vasquez. “Detective Sawyer is here to-” she halted and looked back when someone loudly cleared their throat from behind the door. “Oh, right… sorry.” She turned back towards the room. “I meant… Detective Danvers is here to see you.”

“Aaahhhh,” Maggie sighed contently while exaggeratedly leaning inside, and Vasquez made a face before leaving. “Just rolls of the tongue, doesn’t it?” She smiled broadly as she stepped inside and up to Lena and Winn.

“Hey there, miss Lena!” Mesut proclaimed loudly as he stepped into the room after the detective, and Lena nodded as she returned the ghost’s greeting.

“You just missed your wife,” Lena said, amused that Maggie still wouldn’t stop pointing out her new last name at every opportunity.

“No, I didn’t,” Maggie said while smirking, as she stepped next to their worktable. “I already said goodbye earlier. Why do you think she was late?” She wiggled her eyebrows, and Lena groaned as she scrunched her eyes closed.

“Please tell me you didn’t just come here to make inappropriate innuendo’s,” Lena said as she rubbed her temple.

“First of all; she’s my wife, so nothing we do is inappropriate. And secondly; I’m actually here with a lead on Roulette.”

Lena froze as her eyes shot open, and she was only vaguely aware of the excited gasp beside her as Winn fumbled around to get his badge out of his pocket. “You’re kidding,” she said slowly.

“Nope.” Maggie pulled out a picture of a woman with bags under her eyes and a defiant look into the camera. “Meet Delores Winters,” the detective announced, as Winn and Lena leaned closer towards the picture. “I came across her when I was forced to file the explosion of Roulette’s fight club as a cold case. She was apparently a thorn in the side of the NCPD quite a few years ago, before I even got transferred over here. You could say that in a way, she was Roulette’s predecessor, although her areas of interest were kind of… different.”

“Sounds ominous,” Winn commented.

“It kinda is. She had a fascination with aliens who have special powers, or who are just stronger than humans by nature, and she was apparently obsessed with finding ways to harness their powers. Something about wanting to stay young forever or something,” Maggie shrugged dismissively before carrying on. “As a matter of fact, she even got a skin transplant that made her get some sort of freezing power. It’s all pretty gnarly stuff.”

“So she’s like an evil Elsa?”

Lena blinked in confusion as she turned to Mesut. “Who?”

“You’ve never seen Frozen?!” the ghostly man exclaimed. “How is that legal?!”

“Hang on,” Winn suddenly interrupted, entirely missing the ghostly conversation in front of him. “This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Roulette?”

“Well,” Maggie started smugly, “being the awesome detective that I am, I found out that Delores Winters founded a wellness spa, slash plastic surgery clinic and that that clinic was co-founded by, guess who…” she paused and glanced around for dramatic effect. “A certain Veronica Sinclair.” She turned to Lena with a questioning look. “So what do you think, Luthor? Think she could be our mark?”

“Possibly,” Lena mused as she took the picture in her hands and observed the woman in it, “I mean, there’s no guarantee that Roulette actually cares about one of her business partners, but it’s the only lead we have, so…”

“Wait a minute,” Lena looked to her side where Mesut was frowning at her. “You’re still going with this plan of threatening someone Roulette cares about?” Mesut kept his frown in place as Lena responded affirmatively. “Pfft… whatever happened to ‘one evil doesn’t justify another’?” he questioned.

“This is different,” Lena protested. “For one, my sanity is on the line and besides, we’re not actually going to… you know… do it.” She put down the picture as she leaned her hands on the table, quite frankly already starting to feel uncomfortable now that they might be getting close to executing her plan. “It’s just a matter of leverage. A matter of me having something hanging over her head that’s as big of a threat to her as she could be to me.” Lena sighed deeply, before turning to Maggie. “So how does this work? Can you just arrest her?”

“Actually, that's where the problems start.” Lena let out a sigh, because of course it couldn't be simple. “Our friend Delores over here went off the grid years ago, and no one's seen her since. And unless we find something wrong with her clinic, I don't have an excuse to spend police resources on finding her. And although that clinic’s income is suspiciously high, it’s not exactly enough proof to launch an investigation into it either.”

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. “So you're saying there's nothing we can do?”

“Actually,” Maggie drawled and Lena gave a wary frown at the mischievous grin the detective was showing, “I said we can't _officially_ do anything. So with that in mind…”

She took a flyer out of her pocket and put it on the table, the words ‘Endless Winter Clinic and Health Spa’ boldly printed on the front.

“…how do you feel about taking a spa day?”

 

* * *

 

 

Health Spas were weird.

Lena had only been to a similar place once before, and quite frankly the constant lying down and doing nothing combined with strangers touching her all over had been enough to permanently scare her off from the whole concept. And yet, she found herself in such a setting once again, as she and Maggie had been guided to a changing room by an employee of The Endless Winter Clinic who had a plastic smile (both literally and figuratively).

Lena was now waiting in one of those changing rooms, which were basically just small cubicles reminiscent of a public pool, just as they’d planned. But when after a minute or so Mesut didn’t show up she started to worry. She was almost a the point of panicking, clutching her handbag tighter by the second, when the ghostly man suddenly stepped through the door. “What took you so long?” Lena whispered intently.

“Sorry, sorry, I just tried teleporting here.”

“Mesut,” Lena groaned quietly, “I already told you: as far as I know you have to actually know the place you’re teleporting to.”

“Are you sure?” he whispered back. “Because I’m pretty sure I moved a few inches to-”

“Will you just check when the camera turns?!” Lena hissed, about to lose her patience.

“Okay, okay,” Mesut grumbled, before leaning through the closed door and sticking his head out of the small changing room. “Aaaand… go!”

Lena quickly opened the door, (Mesut didn’t move, which looked really weird) and she skidded through the corridor before the camera could turn back and she quickly sneaked into the changing room Maggie had walked into. She let out a sigh of relief as she locked the door behind her.

“You already nervous, Luthor? We didn’t even get to the risky part yet.”

Lena threw an annoyed glance at Maggie, who was looking way too relaxed in her opinion. “I just don’t have the best track record when it comes to sneaking into places,” the young CEO responded coolly, as she put her handbag on the floor and started examining the ceiling.

“Well, I’m on your side this time, so now there’s no risk of me catching you.” The detective gave her a wink, and Lena rolled her eyes before zeroing in on her objective.

“It should be about there,” Lena pointed at a particular point in the ceiling. Maggie promptly propped herself against the wall of the small changing room, as Lena took out a cable from her bag, but at that point Mesut walked inside.

“Damn,” he whispered. “It just won’t work,” he muttered, apparently still sulking about his inability to teleport. “So, what exactly am I looking for again?” he asked looking at Lena, and the youngest Luthor breathed out of her nose in frustration, because they’d been over this at least twenty times.

“You’re looking for financial records,” she whispered. “It’s very likely we won’t find them in their system, so you’re looking for either physical files, or a separate server room.”

“Which you need because-”

“Because we need an excuse for the police to resume looking for Delores Winters!” Lena hissed. “And why are you whispering?! No one can hear you!”

“Well, you were whispering, and then she was whispering, so I just thought-”

“Can you just get a move on?!”

“Okay, okay,” the man said defensively (while still whispering), before he walked through the door on the other side and started exploring the building. Lena just shook her head, as she turned back to Maggie and frowned at the sight of her still propped against the wall and her hands folded together.

“You’re… giving me a boost?” she asked warily.

“Yeah, obviously.”

“I just thought… you were gonna-”

“Gonna magically float to the ceiling?” the detective asked sarcastically. “Look Luthor, one of us has to get up there and no offence, but I don’t see _you_ lifting _me_ off the floor.” Maggie pointedly motioned towards her clasped hands and after a second Lena relented as she stepped out of her heels and planted her foot; one hand steadying herself on Maggie’s shoulder while the other held on to her cable. She involuntarily squeaked when she got hoisted up and she steadied herself against the wall of the small changing room instead.

“You okay there?” Maggie asked from down below.

“I’m fine,” Lena responded curtly, while starting to push one of the ceiling panels out of its place, revealing a dusty compartment of the building’s inner workings. “I just don’t like heights,” she commented, as she looked around for the cable of the security network they were about to tap into.

“Heights?” Maggie snorted. “You’re barely three feet off the floor.”

“Will you just stand still?” Lena said, precariously balancing on her one foot, as she finally found what she was looking for.

“I’m trying, but not everyone is as strong as your girlfriend,” Maggie commented dryly. Lena ignored her as she carefully peeled away the plastic around the wire in the ceiling, before clipping the end of her cable onto the exposed copper underneath. She huffed as she climbed down, stumbling to the floor with less grace than she’d like, as she moved to take her laptop out of her handbag and attach the other end of the cable to it.

“Could you give the Kara stuff a rest already?” Lena grumbled as she typed away on her laptop and proceeded to hack into the building’s security grid. “It’s really not funny.”

“Actually, I think it’s hilarious,” Maggie snickered.

“Unrequited feelings are funny to you?”

“No, but oblivious dumbasses are.”

“What?”

“Miss Lena!” The youngest Luthor flinched in surprise, as Mesut suddenly stepped back into the small changing room. “I think I found something!” Lena raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to explain. “There’s this big door that kinda looks like a vault, and it’s separated from the rest of the rooms and it’s got a real complicated lock or something.”

“Did you check the other side?” Lena asked slowly.

“Well, yeah, but there’s just more rooms. Except it doesn’t look all fancy like the rest of the place, it looks more… you know… evil lair-like.”

“Hang on,” Lena returned her attention to her computer screen, where she accessed the network of security cameras. She scrolled past the one in the waiting room, the ones in the various hallways and several others, before she arrived at the one pointed at the door that Mesut had described. “Jackpot,” Lena mumbled, as Maggie moved to look over her shoulder. “They have a double-armoured door standing there, but there’s no security cameras on the other side of it,” Lena summed up. “Which means…”

“That there’s something on the other side that they don’t want to have visual evidence of,” Maggie finished for her.

“Exactly. So if you give me a second…” Lena started typing away again, as she very carefully waited for the right time to freeze every last security camera and loop all the ones that turned. After that, she went deeper into the system and managed to power down the armoured door and retrieve the security code. “Done. Let’s go,” Lena proclaimed, packing up her computer.

“Wait, isn’t it safer if I check out all those rooms?” Mesut asked confused.

“It would be,” Lena sighed as she retrieved her cable and stepped back into her heels, “but they don’t have any financial records in their system, so whether they’re hiding physical copies or a hard drive behind that door, we’re gonna have to go and get it ourselves.” Lena huffed out a breath, as she was definitely getting nervous now, but she kept her poise. And her dignity. “You check what’s ahead, okay?” she told Mesut, and he nodded as he stepped through the door again.

They stood at the ready, and after a few seconds Lena heard Mesut’s voice: “It’s clear!”

Lena swiftly stepped out of the changing room, with Maggie following closely behind, as they ran to the end of the hallway where Mesut was motioning towards them. They proceeded this way through the building, stopping at every corner so Mesut could scout the path ahead, and they even had to run two corridors back one time when an unsuspecting employee was headed their way. Eventually they made it to the door though, and Lena nervously wiped her hands before typing in the code that she’d seen a minute earlier on her computer. There was a click as the door unlocked, and Lena sighed a breath of relief as the giant armoured door opened and they snuck past it, careful to push it back again once they’d stepped through.

“Whoa…”

Lena turned around and saw what was giving Maggie pause. Because Mesut apparently wasn’t exaggerating about the resemblance to an evil lair. Gone were the plants that seemed to be standing in every corridor of the rest of the clinic, gone was the atmospheric lighting, gone was the calming music playing in the background and gone was any trace of a window. The walls were stark and bare, and the overhead lights flickered sometimes as it suddenly felt like they’d stepped into an underground parking lot after midnight.

“Damn,” Maggie whispered. “Subtlety really isn’t criminals strong suit, is it?” She chuckled briefly, but despite her attempt at humour she still pulled her gun out of her back pocket as they started walking through the neon-lights-lit corridor. Lena swallowed, as she now made sure to walk behind the detective with the firearm, as she nodded to Mesut to go and check ahead. And the ghostly man nodded in return, as he seemed to have turned just as serious by the change in atmosphere. They proceeded carefully, but suddenly Mesut’s voice sounded from around the corner.

“Oh, crap…”

Lena froze as she grabbed Maggie’s leather jacket, forcing her to stop, as she waited for some sort of clarification. When that didn’t happen, she softly called out for him. “Mesut?” she whispered hesitantly, while Maggie had now raised her gun toward the corner at the end of the corridor, while glancing between the spot she was pointing at and Lena.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Mesut suddenly proclaimed. “It’s clear.”

Lena huffed out a breath that was equally annoyed as it was relieved, as she let go of Maggie and nodded at her, signalling that it was okay. When they rounded the corner, she gave Mesut an accusatory look as he was just standing there. “What was that about?” she asked annoyed, crossing her arms as she stepped next to him.

“It’s just…” Mesut pulled a face as he motioned ahead at the next piece of corridor, “…a lot.”

Lena turned to look at what he meant, and she felt her determination sag all the way to her shoes. Because there had to be at least a dozen doors on each side of the corridor, almost beckoning to the three would-be investigators that their evidence of embezzlement or affiliated wrongdoing could be behind any of them. Lena sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Crap,” she muttered. “Alright…” she stepped up to the first door and tried the handle, surprisingly finding it unlocked. She quickly peeked inside, seeing only a bunch of stacked up chairs and other unutilised furniture. “Mesut,” she started as she closed the first door, “you keep watch. We’ll check the rooms.” The ghostly man nodded and immediately ran for the end of the corridor.

Lena and Maggie now stepped up to the second room, the detective making a point of stepping inside first, her gun stretched out ‘just in case’. The first few rooms were remarkably ordinary. One was full of file cabins, and Lena’s heart had immediately jumped in excitement that they’d found what they were looking for, before realising that they just contained zoning permits and architectural plans. There were another few that contained medical equipment, which Lena found quite strange since the place freely advertised their performances of plastic surgery. So what was the point of hiding their equipment behind a secured door? Only at door number seven did they find something unusual. The unusual thing being that unlike the other rooms, this one was locked.

“Alright, Luthor,” the detective said smugly. “Step back.” She proceeded to step in front of the door as she brought her leg up and swiftly kicked at the door, just like Lena had seen her do once before. Unlike last time, however, the door didn’t budge and Maggie let out a strangled groan as she put her foot back down. “Reinforced lock,” the detective mumbled before grimacing and clutching her knee. “Fuck.”

Lena supressed the urge to laugh as Maggie limped a few steps while cursing under her breath, and instead turned to the side. “Mesut!” she whisper-shouted towards the end of the corridor. And as the man appeared around the corner with a questioning look, she motioned to him to get closer. “This one’s locked,” she explained, “can you take a look?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The ghostly man stepped inside, leaving Lena and Maggie waiting for him on the other side. The detective had apparently recomposed herself, glancing from one side of the corridor to the other as the seconds ticked away, when she suddenly spoke up: “So about the Kara stuff…” she gave her a sideways glance while Lena rolled her eyes, “…I’m just curious about something.”

“About what?” Lena asked annoyed.

“Well… what do _you_ think that two people who are going out together would do?”

“What kind of a question is that?”

“Well,” Maggie shrugged and flashed one of her dimpled grins, “I’m just saying that, by the way you two go out to romantic dinners, hang out every evening and hold hands all the time, one might think you two are already dating.” The detective kept giving her that amused look, but Lena wasn’t in the mood.

“That’s just Jess jumping to conclusions,” Lena protested. “Kara’s just… affectionate,” she said hesitantly. “I mean… best friends are supposed to be close, right?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

Lena huffed out an annoyed breath as she frowned at Maggie’s self-satisfied look, but suddenly they both heard a loud scream. Or at least that’s what Lena thought, but as she jumped up in surprise she noticed that Maggie hadn’t heard anything. And that that scream was definitely Mesut. As if on cue, the man suddenly fell backwards out of the room, scurrying away on the floor as if the room had physically burned him. He heaved loudly as he pointed a shaking finger at the locked door and struggled to form words.

Lena stepped closer, feeling concerned. “Mesut, what happened?”

“They… it… it’s… corpses…” he heaved, looking completely shaken. “They… they have… dead aliens… and arms and legs… and claws, horns and more… it’s full of it… the whole room, it’s…” he swallowed harshly, as he gave Lena a scared look, but before the youngest Luthor could even process that information, she suddenly heard another voice coming from behind her.

“This is a restricted area.”

Lena spun around immediately, as Maggie snapped her head up as well. She’d been so distracted by Mesut, and the detective by Lena’s reaction to him, that they’d completely missed the man they were currently looking at walking around the corner that Mesut had previously been guarding. And Lena noticed his expensive shoes, his Rolex and his dark hair that was slicked back with an absurd amount of gel. He was looking at them with a deep frown, his eyes darting suspiciously between the two women. Lena was frozen in place, but Maggie cleared her throat and composed herself.

“Detective Danvers, NCPD,” she announced boldly, as she flashed her badge. “We have a search warrant on suspected illegal activity,” she improvised. Lena was impressed by the quick recovery from the shock, but the man with the slicked back hair seemed less impressed.

“Well, that’s a shame,” he said in an amused tone. And Lena didn’t like the sound of it, because he was starting to show a grin. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to get back to your treatments any time soon, then.” He snapped his fingers, and before Lena knew what was happening, five more men suddenly appeared from behind the corner, every last one of them pointing an assault rifle at their face. Lena’s insides froze, as Maggie appeared to push her back out of instinct, stepping in front of the youngest Luthor with her lone gun pointing at the five armed grunts. “I suggest you put that down,” the dark-haired man mused arrogantly, “unless you want to redecorate the floor with blood.”

Maggie was breathing heavier, but she didn’t lower her gun as she took a step back, pushing Lena along. The youngest Luthor was definitely panicking now, despite keeping her cool exterior. She glanced at her left wrist, looking at the watch that could summon Supergirl. But with Kara lightyears away on an alien planet somewhere, it was completely useless. She glanced back up at the last unlocked door, but it was too far away to make a run for it. She glanced to her right, where Mesut had jumped to his feet and was looking from left to right with a panicked expression on his face. And looking at the ghostly man who was muttering to himself with his hands in his hair she suddenly saw it. She suddenly saw a way out of this mess.

Lena turned her head slightly, putting her right profile out of view of the armed thugs and their boss as she brought a hand up to her ear. “They’re inside,” she proclaimed with a confidence she didn’t feel, making sure everyone heard, as she looked at Maggie. “They’ve started doing a sweep of the room,” she proclaimed, and the detective looked at her over her shoulder with a confused expression that screamed; ‘what the hell are you doing?’

Lena instead turned her gaze to the men ahead, their leader squinting his eyes at her. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” she started, her voice cool and detached, “but you’re currently being infiltrated.” She paused, as she watched the grunts give each other sideways looks. “So I suggest you lay down your weapons before anyone gets hurt.”

For a second, nobody moved as Lena and the man with the slicked back hair just stared at each other intently, while Maggie and the grunts kept their guns pointed at each other. Then the man started grinning. “You’re bluffing,” he stated confidently.

“Am I?” Lena countered, giving the man her best corporate glare. “You’re absolutely sure there isn’t a tactical team behind that door?” Lena nodded to the side at the door with the reinforced lock. “Because if there isn’t… there would be no way they could tell me _exactly_ what they’re finding in there… would there, now?” Lena very slowly turned her head, bringing her hand to her ear again, as if listening to an imaginary comm in her ear. And she took the opportunity to stare directly at Mesut, trying to force him to understand what she was thinking through sheer willpower.

The ghostly man paused for an agonisingly long second… and then he got the hint.

She barely saw his eyes widen in understanding, before he sprinted back into the room he’d just stumbled out of, basically jumping through the door. The man with the slicked back hair was snickering now, apparently thinking he’d successfully called her out, but thankfully she heard Mesut shouting from inside the room: “There’s a glass case in the corner, all the way in the back!! There’s- there’s only horns and claws and other stuff… you know, hard stuff… ”

“So you keep the preservable goods in a glass case?” Lena said, raising an eyebrow at the man and his armed subordinates, whose expressions seemed to harden, all previous amusement suddenly gone. “Very posh.”

“There’s, like… some sort of water tank!!” she heard Mesut yelling. “There’s floating things and I think… ugh!! Those are brains!!”

“A tank of cerebrospinal fluid?” Lena asked, squinting her eyes at the men who were now exchanging worried glances. “How very advanced of you,” Lena remarked condescendingly, buying Mesut some time more than anything.

“The rest are just freezer racks!!” Mesut continued his shouted report, despite his trembling voice. “There’s arms and legs and… no wait, there’s a separate compartment with- ah, shit, that’s a heart!!”

“I’m impressed,” Lena remarked sarcastically, “you at least had the foresight to separate internal organs from other limbs. One would almost say you know what you’re doing. Although freezer racks, really? Are you running a butcher shop or a second-rate villain lair?”

The men with the rifles were now muttering to each other as they all sent wary glances to the door. But although Lena noticed the man with the slicked back hair looking more angry and more worried than before, he was still hesitating. And when Mesut reappeared from inside the room, looking like he was about to be sick and just shrugging his shoulders as if to say ‘that’s all there is’, Lena realised she had to take it a step further. So she went for broke. She calmly got on her knees, never changing her cool and calm expression, while gently tugging at Maggie’s sleeve to signal her to do the same. When the detective looked at her, she seemed completely lost, but she seemed to just roll with it. And Lena was incredibly relieved, despite forcing herself not to show it.

“What- what are you doing?” the man in front of them stammered.

“Well, it sounds like they’re almost done sweeping the room,” Lena said calmly, as she now laid down on her stomach and leaned on her forearms. And after a moment of hesitation, Maggie followed her lead. “And the team is starting to get worried that we didn’t give them the all clear,” Lena continued while never breaking eye contact with the man, who was now looking frantically between the youngest Luthor and the offending door. “I’m afraid they’re the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of fellows. Just the mentality that you get amongst two dozen special op agents, I guess. So if you don’t mind, we’re just getting out of dodge.” Lena kept staring at the man who was now breathing heavily while his eyes kept darting back and forward, and the armed men behind them were now looking downright panicked. “Enjoy the bullet storm,” Lena scoffed, as she decided to go all in and put her hands behind her head and finally break eye contact. Laying her head down against the cold floor, while she noticed Maggie seemingly fighting every instinct in her body, as she slowly did the same despite never letting go of her gun.

The silence lasted half a second… but half a second had never lasted so long.

“Alright, alright!!” the panicked shout above her head sounded. “Stand down!! Stand down, I said!! Tell them it’s clear, woman!!”

Lena thought she’d snapped her head up fast, but when she looked up, Maggie had already bounded across the corridor and had kicked the men’s discarded rifles to the side. “On the ground!! Hands behind your back!!” Maggie yelled, frantically reaching for the inside pocket of her leather jacket as she started pulling out several plastic handcuffs. Lena quickly got to her feet as she watched all six men follow Maggie’s orders, and she feigned reassuring the imaginary tactical team through her comm just to make sure they didn’t do anything stupid. She watched as Maggie started handcuffing all of them, but when Lena went to pick up one of the discarded rifles the detective aggressively shook her head at her.

After restraining the last man and calling for back up, Maggie suddenly grabbed Lena by her arm and dragged her out of earshot. “You need to get out of here. Now.”

Lena paused, as she gave the woman a confused look. “I can’t leave you alone with six guys who are gonna be livid when they realise-”

“Do you remember your last name?!” Maggie interrupted her. “You don’t need to get caught in a building with dissected aliens, and you don’t need your fingerprints on rifles that were probably obtained illegally! Especially with McConnell trying to find any excuse to incriminate you!”

Lena shook her head in confusion. “That guy is still at it?!” she asked incredulously. “But Jeremiah told us where to find dr. Runnels’ body,” she protested. “McConnell knows how mother got her hands on the alien detection technology now, why would he still-”

“Because he’s a fucking asshole, Luthor!!” Maggie hissed, throwing a wary glance at the handcuffed men behind her. “So just get out of here before you give him something concrete to latch onto again!!” Lena opened and closed her mouth as she hesitated for a moment. “Go!!” Maggie insisted.

Lena reluctantly backed away, darting her eyes between her friend and the men behind her, before turning around and starting to run for the exit.

  

* * *

 

 

Lena nervously tapped her foot while she sipped her coffee.

She was sitting in a booth in a small diner that didn’t look like it was used to having customers. Their toast was disgusting, but the place was only two streets removed from the clinic she just escaped and she’d actually managed to see several police cars racing that way over half an hour ago. Lena let her eyes go over the deserted diner, as she’d been getting more nervous about leaving Maggie alone every passing minute. However, after sending Mesut back to find out what was happening, he’d reassured her that she was just processing evidence. He’d also subsequently left. Apparently he’d spotted a cinema nearby. ( _“I’m traumatized and I need a distraction, all right?! You’re just gonna talk about stuff I have to omit anyway!”)_

Lena’s head suddenly shot up at the sound of the door opening, and she immediately jumped out of her seat when she noticed it was Maggie. “Finally!!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been worried sick over here!” Maggie just hummed as she patted Lena on the back in response to the hug she received.

“Alright, alright, don’t get clingy. I’m a married woman, you know?”

“Yes,” Lena chuckled as she stepped back. “So you keep reminding everyone.” They both sat down in the booth and Lena noticed that despite her joking tone, Maggie’s expression remained very serious. “I suppose it would be naïve to hope that Delores Winters left a forwarding address lying around?”

“Forget about that for a second, Luthor. We’ve got bigger problems.” Maggie leaned closer with her elbows on the table, her expression still very grim. “So that guy back there, the one with enough gel in his hair to stick a Toyota to a wall, he actually ran the shady side of the business. He claims not to know where Delores Winters is, but he did confirm that Roulette used to sell them the bodies of aliens that didn’t survive in her fight club.”

“What on earth would they need that for?!” Lena asked in disgust.

“Well, apparently the ‘plastic surgeries’ they performed there were not exactly… conventional. If you had enough money, they could get you a skin transplant, so you’d be immune to certain toxins, or replace an arm with a much stronger alien variant and so on. They did more procedures, but those are just some of the less nasty ones.” Maggie cleared her throat, and Lena was thankful that her innate curiosity was muted by the revolting nature of the information. “But here’s the thing… they actually kept track of where they got all those corpses. Every purchase, every single body, to the last limb is accounted for in their records. And I quickly went over them, you know, to confirm that Roulette delivered to them before a colleague would bag the evidence. But…” Maggie sighed and shifted in her seat again, “…while she used to sell to them regularly when her first fight club was still running… lately…” Maggie fell quiet as she let out another sigh and Lena was starting to feel anxious.

“What?!” she exclaimed, sitting on the edge of her seat. “Just spit it out! What is it?!”

Maggie wringed her hands together before looking at Lena again with a concerned expression. “They’d been scraping them together since Roulette’s fight club got shut down,” Maggie started slowly. “A murder victim here, a homeless alien there, barely getting by, apparently. Roulette sold them one last batch in May, but after that… they found a regular supplier again.” Maggie paused once more, clenching her jaw as she looked over Lena’s face. But just as Lena was about to lose her patience, the woman spoke up again. “It’s Cadmus.”

Lena’s eyes went wide, searching Maggie’s face in disbelief, but the woman kept looking back at her with that grave expression in place. “But that’s… not possible,” Lena started weakly. “I thought the whole thing just crumbled after mother died. I mean… they haven’t done anything since…”

“Nothing obvious,” Maggie corrected. “But like I just said, they’ve been selling alien corpses to the Endless Winter Clinic. Do you remember I told you that I got put in charge of a string of alien kidnappings?” Maggie asked, and Lena just nodded back. “Well, I guess we know who’s behind it now. Or at least what organisation.” Maggie sighed as she reached out and took a swig of Lena’s coffee. “I’m not sure why they’re suddenly trying to be subtle, although I guess it’s not uncommon for a criminal organisation to lay low for a while after a shift in power.”

“Wait a minute,” Lena frowned. “So do you suppose… they’re the ones who helped Henshaw escape?”

“That seems likely,” Maggie nodded.

“And… Delores Winters…” Lena started thoughtfully, “…do you think she might be… in charge of Cadmus now?”

Maggie shook her head at her. “It’s possible, but I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. But hey, look on the bright side,” she huffed out a humourless laugh, “at least now I have a good excuse to spend police resources on finding her.”

Lena gave a smile that more resembled a grimace, as she hadn’t thought that her problems could have gotten even worse. Well, turns out that old saying was true. Things can _always_ get worse. Before she could think any deeper about it however, both hers and Maggie’s phones suddenly buzzed. As she took it out of her pocket, she just had time to read Winn’s text, before Maggie exclaimed it’s content: “They’re back!”

And as Lena would find out later, everything had worked out just fine. Kara and company had squashed a rebellion and had come right back, just as promised. She’d been prepared to console Kara, ready to put her own feelings aside and listen to how hard it was to leave Mon-el behind another time. But Kara had seemed genuinely fine, as she’d just wrapped her up in a tight hug and told her she’d missed her. Lena didn’t miss the beat her heart skipped, nor did she miss Maggie’s pointed look at their interaction. But despite the Supergirl mission going smoothly, despite Kara seeming fine, and despite witnessing the miracle of her computer finally being able to connect with the Daxam Drive thanks to Lar Gand’s instructions, she still didn’t sleep easy that night. She didn’t sleep easy because of Cadmus. Because despite the fact that her mother wasn’t even leading it anymore, Cadmus was still a product of the Luthor madness.

And Lena wanted… no, _needed_ to put an end to it.

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

_Cyborg Superman woke with a start._

_His robotic eye immediately lit up, as he sat up straight while scanning his surroundings. He growled while he looked around the cubical cell with see-through walls that he was trapped in, as he clearly wasn’t in that transportation van anymore. As he got up from the floor and gazed around his new prison, he caught sight of the figure sitting in a chair in the otherwise empty room. He froze for a moment, before letting out a primal roar and lunging in that direction, only causing him to slam into the apparently impervious confines of his cell. The hooded figure just gave him a sly grin from the chair, slowly getting up before approaching the odd cell, while repeatedly flicking the lid of a metallic lighter._

_“Welcome back among the living, Henshaw.”_

_“You!” the cyborg growled, as he sent a hateful glare in the figure’s direction. “You deserted me in Metropolis!”_

_“Oh, I think you have your facts wrong there,” the figure drawled, looking the cyborg over with bemusement. “You see, I never actually left National City. So I think ‘deserted’ isn’t the best way to put it.” The cyborg just growled in response, shooting a blue beam from his robotic eye, but it did nothing to damage the walls of his see-through prison. “Don’t waste your energy,” the figure spoke calmly, while appearing more interested in flicking the lid of the lighter than Henshaw’s anger. “I understand why you might resent me, but you should know that I was simply thinking of the bigger picture. Lillian Luthor was smart in many ways, but her ego was too big for her own good.” The figure let out a measured laugh, seemingly unaffected by the increasingly animalistic rage on Henshaw’s face, while pacing back and forward in front of the cell. “She really had a hard time learning from her mistakes,” the hooded figure mused. “Her daughter thwarted her plans multiple times, and still she could not predict how her final mission was going to end. Cadmus will be much better off without that woman’s ego in the way,” the figure continued. “With her gone, we will finally be able to move forward in trying to defend ourselves, instead of constantly posturing about our superiority or engaging in wild goose chases after Supergirl. If only she would have realised that it is so much easier to operate out of the shadows…”_

_The figure came to a stop and flicked the lid of the metallic lighter closed, opting to finally give the cyborg some acknowledgement. “That is why I brought you here, Henshaw. To offer you a place in the new and improved Cadmus. One with a practical leader, instead of a self-centred, superficial millionaire with a personal vendetta against Supergirl.”_

_“I will never work for you!” The cyborg emphasized his statement by bashing his fists against the confines of his cell. The hooded figure grinned again, seemingly unaffected by Henshaw’s outburst, before taking out a small remote-like device and pointing it at the see-through cell._

_“I thought you might say that,” the figure responded while pressing a button on the device. Instantly, the cyborg let out an angry growl as he clutched his left shoulder in pain. “Did you know…” the figure started calmly, resuming the flicking of the metallic lighter, “…there once was a study claiming that smoking actually prevents cancer?”_

_The cyborg didn’t appear to be listening as he kept clutching his shoulder, his eyes widening as a beeping sound seemed to be coming from that particular limb._

_“Obviously no one was eager to encourage people to start smoking several packs a day. But don’t you think it would be worth it?”_

_The cyborg was now panting as he tugged his shirt aside to look at his shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw a red flashing light from under his skin accompanying the increasingly fast beeping sound._

_“Don’t you think exterminating such a heinous parasite would be worth the risk of any side effects? Don’t you think that sometimes one evil can justify another? Because I do.”_

_Henshaw started clawing at his shoulder, as both the beeping and the figure’s voice intensified._

_“It’s a shame you won’t be joining us, because Cadmus as a whole will start being more practical now. No more posturing, or bold grandiose gestures to try and win over the people’s approval. The people will start thinking practically. Now that I’m in charge, they will see us as the necessary evil that we are.” The figure grinned once more while stepping up to the cell, as the incessant beeping turned to one long sound, and the cyborg gave the hooded figure one last hateful look. “They will call me… Cigarette.”_

_Cyborg Superman didn’t get a chance respond, however… because the man formerly known as Hank Henshaw was suddenly blown to pieces._

_The see-through walls shook in their place, but the cell did its job of containing the blast. The hooded figure simply stood there, looking over the walls that were no longer see-through. Instead… they were now stained red. The blast had signalled the end of the incessant beeping, leaving the room in complete silence. Deadly silence._

_At least until Cigarette resumed flicking the lid of the metallic lighter._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picture's not mine, I found it here: http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/forums/images/avatars/portrait/153350469746186a8f93635.jpg
> 
> Next week: A driver, a breakthrough, and a Christmas party.


	9. Anna Burik

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Covers Supergirl 3x09

_December 18 th 2017_

“Thank you, Carl.”

Lena smiled at the alien man as he removed the picture from the wall near the booth she was sitting in, and he appeared to pout while he walked away. Or at least as close as someone whose face consisted mostly of scales could come to pouting. Winn made a disapproving sound as he shook his head at her from the other side of the booth.

“That was cold, dude.”

“What?” Lena frowned at him. “I just don’t want my picture hanging on the wall of some bar,” she protested.

She shifted in her seat as she looked around; the alien dive bar almost being familiar at this point, as she was supposed to be having lunch here with Maggie and Winn. Of course lunch with Kara was almost sacred at this point and usually she wouldn’t trade that for anything, but apparently having a Worldkiller on the loose meant working overtime. And Maggie had been called back to the precinct after just three minutes (with Mesut obviously still tagging along), but not before giving them an update on the Roulette and Delores Winters situation.

Finding Delores Winters had now become one of the priorities of the NCPD, since with the discovery of the Endless Winter Clinic’s illegal activities they had finally found something to lock her away for. They hadn’t found her yet, but Lena was actually glad about that, since she still hadn’t quite figured out how to go about threatening to harm her to Roulette’s face. Along with the re-emergence of Cadmus, it was one of those things that kept her up at night.

Maggie had filled the few minutes she was actually there by extensively complaining about McConnell who, even with Cadmus’ survival being discovered, still refused to have the metal remains of those floating turrets analysed by anyone outside of the NCPD, despite the fact their science lab was a joke compared to that of the DEO. Lena had questioned why the DEO couldn’t just confiscate the evidence, but apparently that would put Maggie in a legally uncomfortable position. Because she wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone about ongoing investigations, so if the feds showed up with knowledge of those metal remains, they would be well aware of how that had gotten out. (Apparently Maggie wouldn’t shut up about her new last name at work, either.)

“Oh, come on!” Winn continued to admonish her, as Lena sighed and focused her attention back onto him. “They just want their MONUMENT on display!”

“It’s a picture of my face, it’s not a-”

“The Master Of Necessary Underworld Meddling to Ensure Nirvana Transcendence!”

Lena rolled her eyes. “You’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren’t you? And I’m still not a hero.” Winn made a disapproving face, but at that point a melodic voice suddenly grabbed Lena’s attention.

“Lena Luthor?”

Lena turned her head to see who the voice belonged to, only to gulp in surprise. Because the owner of the sweet and melodic voice was a woman who was standing next to their table. And saying that she was large would be a gross understatement. She was well over six feet tall, her blonde hair in a long braid and had she not been standing so close, Lena might have laughed at the sight of her. Because the size of her muscles was borderline cartoonish. Lena swallowed as she noticed the woman give her a questioning look.

“Um… yes,” she started carefully. “Can I help you?”

“According to Roulette, you can.”

Lena barely flinched anymore as she took her phone out of her pocket, almost on autopilot. She glanced around as she got up, but no one seemed to be questioning her talking to thin air. Then again, since they’d found out about the Medusa virus, it seemed almost impossible for Lena to do anything wrong in the eyes of the regulars. “We need a quiet place to talk,” Lena stated calmly while avoiding eye contact with the large ghostly woman, as she headed for the door while the ghost and Winn followed her, the man clearly already realising what was going on since he was starting to take out his badge. Once they’d made it outside Lena made sure to scan the alley, ensuring that there was no one nearby, although she kept her phone to her ear just in case. She finally laid her eyes on the ghostly woman again.

“Um… pardon the question,” Lena started slowly, looking the woman up and down, “but where are you from?”

“Connecticut.”

“Oh…” Lena cleared her throat as she tried to hide her surprise, feeling relieved she hadn’t asked about her home planet instead. “Wait a minute,” Lena said, remembering something. “Before we continue, did Roulette order you to follow someone? And if so what were their names?”

“Yes, actually,” the woman said with surprise, “I had to follow a woman named Hilda Forsberg.”

“Thank you,” Lena nodded, mentally filing the name away, before refocusing on the task at hand. “Well… go ahead. Who are you? What do you need help with? Tell me everything.”

“My name is Anna Burik,” the woman started, arms crossed. “I think my boyfriend could use your help.”

“Oh…” Lena cleared her throat again, because she really needed to stop making assumptions.

“He’s not been doing great since I died,” Anna started, her melodic voice suddenly dripping with sadness as she crossed the tree trunks she had as arms. “I mean, I’m not a doctor or anything, but if what he has isn’t depression then I don’t know what is. Ever since he found out about the explosion, he just hasn’t been the same. I was the security guard for Roulette,” she explained, and Lena nodded, because of course she was. “But anyway, he stopped talking to people. He just… sits at home every night and… he was distracted at work, which is probably why you fired him, and now-”

“Wait a minute,” Lena interrupted with her hand stretched out. “What do you mean _I_ fired him?! Don’t tell me…” Lena went over her employees in her head, but the release of the entire PR department had been personally handled by Jess (she’d insisted quite vehemently), which only left- “Trevor?” Lena asked incredulously. “Trevor, my former driver, is your boyfriend?” Anna just nodded in return, but suddenly Winn interrupted them.

“You fired Trevor?” he asked surprised.

“Well, yeah,” she said defensively, very conscious of how close the man’s dead girlfriend was standing. “You saw for yourself how he kept failing to show up.”

“He was dealing with my death,” Anna interjected, sadly rather than judging.

“I didn’t know that!” Lena protested. “Look, I didn’t hire anyone else yet, if he needs his job back-”

“No,” Anna said, suddenly more decisive. “His job just paid the bills. He needs to do what makes him happy again. He needs to start wrestling again.”

Lena paused, huffing out an incredulous laugh as she looked at the ghostly woman. “Trevor… is a wrestler?” she asked sceptically. “My driver for over two years, Trevor Mann, is a wrestler?” she repeated.

“Is that funny?” Anna asked as a frown started forming.

“No, no, I- I just…” Lena faltered, not sure what she was about to say. He wasn’t very tall? He wasn’t half as large as the woman currently standing in front of her? It was ironic that a wrestler had been right under Sam’s nose and the girl hadn’t noticed? Lena shook her head, trying to move past the awkwardness. “So, um… were you a wrestler too?”

“Oh, god no,” the woman scoffed. “I think the whole concept is stupid.” Anna huffed out a breath, but explained upon seeing Lena’s confused expression. “But it’s what Trevor loved to do. What he _still_ loves, but… I don’t know, it’s like he’s just given up on everything. Like he doesn’t want to do anything anymore and… and he was supposed to go to this important try-out later this month, but now… please, Ms. Luthor you have to help him.”

Lena swallowed as she watched the pleading face of the very large woman with the contrastingly melodic voice. It’s not that she didn’t want to help her former driver. I mean, for over two years he had been a model employee. The only problem was that, even with all the goodwill in the world, Lena didn’t think she was qualified to _cure depression_ of all thinks.

“I’ve thought about it, and I think it would really help if you got his gym bag to him.”

Lena blinked, turning to the ghostly woman with a frown as she thought that she must’ve surely misheard her. “I’m sorry, what?”

“His gym bag,” Anna repeated as if that was completely logical. “Most of his wrestling gear is in it. He left it in his locker at Goldman’s Gym three months ago and just… left it there. It’s like he’s just trying to distance himself from everything, but I’m sure if it gets put under his nose again then-”

“No, no, just stop,” Lena interrupted, waving her hand in a dismissive motion because now she’d really had enough. “Assuming that seeing pieces of clothing would actually motivate him to change his behaviour, which I cannot stress enough is a long shot by any stretch of the imagination, then you’re still asking me to break into a business. It’s not that I don’t want to help you,” Lena tried to reassure the woman who was starting to look distressed, “but I have a _really_ bad track record when it comes to breaking and entering. And I’m assuming this gym has at least some sort of security measures?”

Anna hesitated for a moment. “Well… yeah, they have security cameras.”

Lena nodded her head. “Well, there you go.” She swallowed as Anna was looking increasingly annoyed. “Look,” Lena sighed, “I would give it a shot if I genuinely thought that it would help or if I could just walk in and out of a building with cameras and steal something with no chance of getting caught, but I’m afraid that my history… has proven…” Lena faltered as she looked over to the side, where Winn was starting to chuckle while looking between the young CEO and the empty space. “What’s so funny?” Lena asked with a suspicious frown, as the man’s grin only seemed to grow wider.

“Have I ever mentioned…” he started while pulling out his phone, “…that I have an _awesome_ girlfriend?"

  

* * *

 

 

Winn was casually leaning against the Guardian van.

Lena figured that’s what he must’ve thought it looked like anyway, but she on the other hand thought that his shifting eyes and nervous expression made him look pretty suspicious. Lena herself was pretending to be busy on her phone as she stood a few steps away, seeing as the two of them and Anna were waiting around the corner from Goldman’s Gym where Lyra was currently doing their dirty work for them.

(Apparently the alien woman was invisible to cameras. Honestly, the things Winn forgets to mention…)

“You know, I highly doubt that you can develop muscle fibre as a ghost,” Lena remarked as she watched Anna doing push-ups on the pavement.

“It’s a reflex,” the large ghostly woman mumbled without stopping. “I get restless when I’m nervous.” She huffed out a breath as she finished and got back to her feet, while Lena just hummed while looking at the building where Lyra was currently committing theft.

“I still don’t get why a piece of clothing would be so important,” Lena grumbled, as she glanced to her side where Anna was now standing up and staring ahead with her arms crossed.

“They're his favourite tights; he wore them when he won the best of the super juniors last year. It's a prestigious tournament,” she explained upon seeing Lena's confused face. “It will help remind him what he’s accomplished and what he still wanted to do. I mean, he was supposed to go to this important try-out, but I don’t think he even plans to go anymore.” She  paused, looking at the side of the building. “I just think he didn't want to come here anymore,” she sighed. “This is where we met.  We always teased each other about what we do, you know… I’d make fun of wrestling, he’d make fun of bodybuilding. It’s just… kind of what we did…” Lena watched as Anna fiddled with her massive fingers while staring off into the distance, but at that point Lyra suddenly emerged from around the corner. A red and white gym bag casually slung over her shoulder.

“Wow, you got it!” Winn exclaimed as he took the bag from his girlfriend. “Any problems?”

“With this place?” Lyra scoffed as she put her hands on her hips. “Must be the easiest job I've ever done.”

“Thank you,” Lena smiled at the alien woman, but Lyra gave her a less than friendly look before turning back to Winn.

“So you still can't tell me what this is about?” Lyra asked, irritation slipping into her voice.

“Um… sorry,” Winn threw a furtive glance at Lena. “But it's for a good cause, I promise!”

“Right…” Lyra drawled as she narrowed her eyes while glancing between the two living people. “I'll see you later, then.” With her eyes fixed on Lena, she suddenly grabbed Winn by the front of his jacket and kissed him. With an obscene amount of tongue. It also lasted uncomfortably long. When she finally detached herself from the man she sauntered off, giving Lena another narrow-eyed look before disappearing down the street. Lena blinked as she turned back to Winn, who looked kind of dazed as he stared after his girlfriend.

“Did she just… mark her territory?” Lena asked incredulously.

“Oh, pfft,” Winn waved dismissively with a dopey grin on his face, “she can just be a little… possessive sometimes.”

“You don't seem to mind,” Lena remarked dryly.

“Nope.”

Lena was distracted from Winn's cheesy grin by Anna clearing her throat beside her. “So we can go to Trevor's place now?”

“Oh… yeah.” Lena shook her head, reminding herself of the task at hand: dropping off the bag with a forged note from a Goldman's gym employee. Then making sure Trevor found the bag, and hoping the contents were as significant to him as Anna claimed them to be. The three of them got back in the Guardian van, Winn taking place behind the wheel before starting the engine, but Lena suddenly frowned as she stared at the red and white gym bag sitting in the corner of the van that was pulling into traffic.

“Anna…” she started unsurely, “…how long did you say that bag was there?”

“Since I died, so that would be August,” the large ghostly woman responded. “Why?”

Lena clasped her hand over her mouth and nose, as she could feel something start to tickle at her nostrils. “Please tell me he washed his stuff before that.”

“Um…” Anna pulled a face, as apparently she was also starting to be aware of the foul smell that was suddenly permeating through the moving van. “I guess he didn’t…”

“Winn, drive faster!!”

 

* * *

 

 

The dancing lights hanging from the ceiling and in the decorated tree illuminated Kara’s apartment.

The whole gang was reunited for a Christmas party, marking the first time they’d been able to spend a significant amount of time all together since Reign had started terrorizing the city. For Lena it also marked the first time she was included in the group in its entirety. Up until recently she’d been steadily dodging Kara’s invitations to game night, knowing that Alex wouldn’t be happy about that and the last thing Lena wanted to do was cause a fight between the Danvers sisters. But with Alex finally being able to stand her company, Lena found herself here now, seated at the table across from Maggie as she watched the entire room groan at the fifth consecutive replaying of the same Christmas song that J’onn J’onzz was apparently a fan of.

“Ugh, seriously?” Maggie shook her head as she rubbed her temple. “If I have to suffer through this song one more time, I think I’d rather go back to the Nazi dimension.”

“I still can’t believe you got to go to an alternate dimension and I didn’t,” Lena grumbled, perhaps still being a little sour about that.

“Ah, forget it Luthor,” Maggie waved her hand at her dismissively, “there was just a lot of shooting and fighting. Not your thing.”

“I guess not,” Lena chuckled.

“And you might be interested to know that I actually found some valuable information when I was on Earth-1.” Lena gave her a confused look as Maggie downed her drink before elaborating: “Delores Winters isn’t in charge of Cadmus.”

Lena frowned at the detective. “How do you know?”

“Because she’s dead.” Lena’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Don’t ask me how she got there, but after disappearing from National City she apparently found a way to Earth-1. According to police records she died three years ago in a scuffle with Batwoman.”

Lena snorted. “Batwoman? Seriously?” Maggie just nodded in response, causing Lena to huff out a breath. “Sounds like something Winn would come up with.” She sighed, rubbing her neck as she turned more serious. “So now we lost our only possible target to blackmail Roulette with, and we’re back to square one in figuring out who’s leading Cadmus,” Lena summed up.

“That’s pretty much the gist of it,” Maggie agreed while sighing pensively.

“Hey, what are you two so gloomy about?” Lena looked up, seeing Mesut approach the table while in the middle of a silly dance. He appeared to be the only one besides J’onn and M’yrnn who was still enjoying the repetitive music selection. “It’s a party, and you can actually drink the eggnog. You know,” he gestured himself up and down, “unlike some people.”

Lena almost automatically reached for her phone, but she stopped when she realised that everybody in the room already knew her secret. Even J’onn did, because apparently the Martian had caught on to what was happening right before he had to walk an emotionally wrecked bride down the aisle. Lena definitely hadn’t been happy when finding that out during another one of those baffling conversations she’d had with Winn.

_(“What do you mean, your boss can read minds?!!”_

_“Oh… I thought I told you that?”_

_“No, you didn’t!!”)_

It was still a strange feeling though, Lena thought to herself as she actually addressed the ghostly man openly and without secrecy, right in the middle of a crowded room; “We’re just concerned that we have nothing or no one to stop Roulette with.”

“Yeah, dude, about that…” Maggie started, looking approximately at the empty space that Lena was talking to. “Is there no way you can get some information out of her?”

“Well… not without being suspicious,” Mesut said hesitantly. “I’m not a cop, you know… I don’t think I can be all sneaky about it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lena reassured the ghostly man. “What you’re doing is already enough.”

Maggie groaned at that, not looking entirely convinced. “I disagree,” she grumbled. “The sooner we get rid of Roulette’s meddling, the sooner I won’t have to be creeped out by the thought of being followed around all day.”

“Hey!” Mesut protested, seeming offended. “For your information, I don’t enjoy being a stalker either! I have better things to do…” he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Like watching movies?” Lena asked amused.

“Yeah… among other things…” the man was avoiding eye contact and had started showing a sly smirk, causing Lena to turn serious.

“Mesut…” she started in a warning tone, “…I thought we’d already agreed that if you spy on unsuspecting women there _will_ be consequences.”

“Wait,” Mesut frowned at her, “I thought you promised you weren’t gonna threaten to deport my grandma anymore?”

“I won’t,” Lena said. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t buy every movie theatre in National City and stop them from showing any romantic comedies.”

Mesut let out an unironic gasp as his eyes went wide with indignation. “You wouldn’t!”

“Don’t give me a reason to.”

Mesut didn’t seem what to say to that, stammering incoherently for a second, before walking away while muttering to himself and shaking his head. Still seeming completely scandalised.

“You know,” Maggie started, “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing you argue with thin air.” She gave the youngest Luthor an amused grin. “Certainly a lot more entertaining than arguing with Alex.”

Lena frowned at the off-hand remark. “Are… are you and Alex having problems again?” she asked warily.

“Pfft,” Maggie snickered as she shook her head dismissively, “don’t be so serious. I just mean that we seem to have the same discussion over and over again. You know, all old-married-couple-style. Because we’re married, me and Alex, you see. Alex Danvers is my wife. Have I mentioned that lately?” Lena just rolled her eyes because, on average, the detective would find a way to shoe-horn that titbit into conversation about five times a day. “But after a while the whole kids argument gets old.”

Lena choked on her scotch, coughing loudly as she gave Maggie an incredulous look. “Isn’t… isn’t that… something you should talk about _before_ you get married?” Lena gulped as she looked across the table, but Maggie just saw fit to laugh at her again.

“Pfft, of course we did, Luthor! We’re not stupid!” She shook her head at her. “But Alex insists that she doesn’t want to adopt, because she remembers how Kara would always long for her real parents and basically she’s just super insecure about living up to a kid’s expectation who’s already had a mom. I keep telling her that she shouldn’t worry and that you and Kara turned out just fine after being adopted, but she keeps being stubborn.”

“And what about you?” Lena asked curiously.

“Me? I don’t want some random guy’s sperm going up my wife’s uterus.”

“Ugh…” Lena grimaced as she put her scotch away. “Do you always have to be so crass?”

“I just call it like I see it.”

Lena was about to answer something half-amused and half-reprimanding, when Alex opened the front door and a nervous bundle of gift baskets stumbled through the door and started apologising to everyone.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” the baskets got put down, revealing a frantically gesturing Jess. “The new agreement with our suppliers had to be rearranged about twenty times, and the board kept harassing me about our impending proposal to Kamp Pharmaceutics and-”

“Jess! Jess…” Lena finally caught the woman’s attention with her coat half off her shoulders, momentarily halting her continuous nervous movements, “…can you do something really complicated for me?”

Jess frowned at her. “What?”

“Relax.”

“Oh…” the woman chuckled nervously, as Maggie snatched her coat from her under mild protest before moving to hang it up, and Jess finally let out a deep breath, seemingly forcing all the tension from her body.

“Didn’t I tell you to let me know when things get too much?” Lena asked her CFO with the slightest undertone of accusation, as Jess readjusted the haphazardly placed gift baskets she’d just walked in with.

“I can handle it,” the other woman muttered distractedly, admiring the proper placement of her gift baskets which, upon further inspection, all had names on them. Lena was just leaning closer to look at them, when Jess went to sit down on the empty stool to her left and almost fell over. Lena’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as her CFO yelped and barely managed to catch herself on the side of the table.

“Are you alright?” Lena asked concerned. Jess just nodded and assured her that she was fine, but when Lena glanced past the edge of the table she noticed the woman’s footwear. Causing an eyebrow to quirk up incredulously. “Since when do you wear 7-inch stilettos?” she exclaimed, unable to hide her bafflement.

“It’s… it’s a recent thing…” Jess muttered, finally taking her seat and clearing her throat. Upon seeing Lena’s pointed look she sighed, before elaborating; “It’s just that… being short sucks,” she mumbled, steadily avoiding eye contact.

“Really?” The youngest Luthor squinted her eyes at her former assistant. “You never mentioned that bothering you before.”

“Well… it’s just…” she huffed out a breath as her eyes shifted through the room, “…some people are really tall. Like… _literally_ out of reach,” Jess muttered, almost petulantly. Lena was slightly confused for a moment but then she followed the woman’s line of sight, noticing who she was looking at. Causing her to smirk in amusement while she poured herself another scotch.

“You know,” Lena started slowly, almost innocently, “if you wanted, you could pull James Olsen right underneath that mistletoe.” It took a second for her words to register with her CFO, apparently. Because it stayed quiet for a beat, before Jess abruptly straightened and hit her knee against the table. Lena just looked at her in amusement as the woman rubbed the offending area of impact while hissing, before turning to her with a dismissive look.

“Pfft… ha… James, wha- don’t… don’t be ridiculous…”

Lena shrugged. “I mean, I think he likes you…”

“Really?!”

Lena shot her a victorious grin, and Jess cringed as she realised just how enthusiastic she’d sounded. “I actually have no idea,” the youngest Luthor confessed, “but I guess I know how _you_ feel, now.” Lena watched as her former assistant seemed to shrink in embarrassment.

“But… we’re colleagues… sort of…” Jess protested weakly.

“Mhm,” Lena hummed as she put her drink down, “yes, because that’s _never_ happened before,” she drawled sarcastically. She let her eyes go over the fidgeting woman, before nodding towards James and returning to her teasing grin. “So how about you woman up and ask out your crush?” Lena kept grinning at her and she was vaguely aware that this sort of behaviour was probably the result of hanging out with Maggie too much. Also, the scotch wasn’t helping. Jess, however, didn’t seem impressed with the motivational speech as she raised her eyebrows at her boss.

“Have you asked out _your_ crush yet?”

Lena’s grin instantly washed away. “That’s different,” she muttered, as Jess kept giving her a pointed look. “She’s my best friend. And I’m still… you know,” she gestured herself up and down, “a woman.”

“Mhm,” Jess hummed as she kept giving her that same unimpressed look, “right… because that’s _never_ happened before.”

Lena huffed out an annoyed breath at the woman’s sarcasm, not sure when Jess had gotten this brash, but suddenly she was startled by a head of blonde hair appearing behind Jess.

“Hi!” Kara chirped, causing both the seated women to flinch in surprise, and Lena was pretty sure she heard Jess’s knee collide with the table again. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Work.”           “Nothing.”

Lena and Jess exchanged a quick glance, before turning back to Kara’s curious eyes. “Some work stuff,” Lena explained lamely, “but it’s really nothing. Right?”

“Yeah,” Jess agreed just as lamely. “Really nothing.” A moment of awkward silence passed. “Excuse me.” Jess got up and grabbed the gift basket with James Olsen’s name on it as she removed herself from the situation. But she turned back around after two steps at the sound of Lena’s voice:

“Use the tie.”

 Jess blinked in confusion. “What?”

“For things out of your reach,” she pointedly looked past the woman and at James at the other end of the room, before refocusing on Jess, “use the neck tie. Used to work for me.” Lena just smirked, as Jess opened her mouth but seemed too embarrassed to say anything, so eventually she just turned around and headed towards her target.

“What was that about?” Kara asked from the other side of the table.

“It’s a secret,” Lena drawled mysteriously, swirling the contents of her glass while raising a teasing eyebrow at the blonde woman.

“Really?” Kara grinned at her in that adorable joking manner. “I thought we didn’t do those anymore?”

“Don’t worry,” Lena’s smile grew thinner, as she glanced at the other side of the room where Jess was awkwardly handing James his gift basket. “Something tells me Jess won’t be able to keep it under wraps for long.” She shook her head as she watched her former assistant’s uncharacteristically shy behaviour, before letting her eyes go over the rest of the apartment. “You really outdid yourself this time, you know,” Lena mused as she let her eyes go over the countless little lights hanging from the ceiling. She smiled as she turned her head back towards the smiling blonde.

“What can I say? There’s no time like Christmas time! It’s inspiring!”

Kara positively beamed at her, and Lena suddenly got hit with the words that Kara had told her before the majority of the guests had arrived. Well, sung to her really. (Yes, Kara was still at it with the musical thing.) It was something along the lines of: _‘In all the places we find love, it feels like Christmas!’_ In reality, Lena had never really cared much for Christmas. It was a time when the rest of the world seemed to poke fun at her with family this and family that, reminding her that she didn’t have the things everyone else did. But now, in the middle of her best friend’s apartment full of people, with Kara looking so happy and beautiful and so much in her element amidst the decorations and light and general happiness, Lena felt it. Looking at Kara, she could feel it very clearly.

She could _feel_ the Christmas.

Lena sucked in a quick breath however, when she realised she was doing the thing again where she was staring into Kara’s eyes for no good reason. Seriously, it was a miracle Kara hadn’t called her out on it yet. “I don’t think I know of any other adult who gets this worked up over a holiday,” Lena said teasingly, expertly veiling her embarrassment with humour. Years of practice and all that. “Well, maybe except…” Lena faltered, looking away, and it was more an automatism than anything else, because of course she didn’t have to hide these things from Kara anymore.

“Except who?” the alien woman asked curiously.

Lena sighed, as she looked back at Kara. “Well, Rachel was a big fan, too.”

“You mean Pam from HR’s sister?”

Lena nodded, her expression turning thoughtful as she watched Kara turn equally pensive. It was really strange; sitting across from her best friend and just talking freely about this. They hadn’t really talked much about the ghost thing since Lena had revealed everything right before Maggie and Alex’s wedding. She wasn’t sure if Kara had been purposefully avoiding the subject, or whether she was just so focused on the whole Reign situation that she didn’t have time to think about anything else. Then again, Lena hadn’t tried to bring it up either. Which ironically was very similar to how they’d handled the whole Supergirl reveal: They’d ignored it for a few days, then they’d started dropping jokes about it, then Kara had actually explained her the basics, and only after the whole ‘almost dying at the hands of Lillian Luthor’ thing, did they finally start having long, in-depth talks about the matter. Most of which happened when Kara had been confined to the DEO’s med bay for a few days (Alex’s orders) and she felt like she would, quote: ‘Lose my mind if I keep sitting here doing nothing.’

Kara sighed, sinking down on the stool across the table and leaning her chin on one hand, giving Lena a curious look with those honest blue eyes of hers. “What’s it like?” she suddenly asked. “When people pass on, I mean.”

Lena chuckled, rather taken off guard by the question, and still finding it kind of surreal that she was actually sitting her talking about her ghost troubles to Kara like this. “Well, I told you,” she started hesitantly. “They start emitting light first, and then it sort of… covers them up. And then the light splits up into these orbs of light that kind of just float there for a while, before they start fading away.”

“And?”

Lena sighed, looking at Kara’s expression inviting her to continue. Almost as if she knew there was more to it.

“Well…” the youngest Luthor started slowly, “it’s just hard sometimes,” she confessed. She furtively glanced up at Kara’s eyes, who was still giving her an encouraging look. “It’s like I have to watch people die over and over again. I mean, they’re already dead obviously,” Lena chuckled humourlessly. “But the reason we’re sad and devastated in the first place when people die, is that we can’t talk to them anymore. That whatever form of communicating with them or seeing them is completely gone. And I realise that them being only able to speak to me doesn’t exactly make them less dead, but… I don’t know… when they pass on it’s as if I know that I’m supposed to be happy for them and that most of them are practically strangers, but… I still feel like I’m watching someone die. In the sense that this time no one will truly be able to see or speak to them anymore and that they’re permanently wiped from existence now. Or, you know…” she gestured reassuringly with her hands, “…whatever else you believe happens when people die,” she amended quickly, trying to avoid offending Kara’s religious views again.

Kara just gave her an understanding smile and, in what was now a familiar motion, reached out and held her hand.

“So, yeah,” Lena shrugged, “I guess ‘bittersweet’ would be the best way to describe it. I find the whole ritual quite puzzling, to be honest.” She huffed out a breath as she shook her head. “The light, the floating orbs… but…” she sighed again, as she let her eyes go over the many glimmering lights that Kara had decorated the ceiling with, rather reminiscent of those ghostly orbs, she suddenly realised. “…it’s admittedly rather beautiful,” Lena muttered.

“ _You’re_ beautiful.”

Lena blinked, dragging her eyes back onto the woman in front of her after hearing the whispered words. “What?” Lena laughed, because that was one random compliment.

“I, uh… I- no- because… lights… and…”

Lena just smirked as her eyebrows raised to her hairline, watching in amusement as Kara retracted her hand, stammered, and failed to form a coherent sentence. She was just debating how long she would let her go on for, because it was really rather adorable, but then-

“Ms. Luthor!”

Lena flinched at the voice coming from right beside her, looking over and finding the large ghostly frame of Anna Burik standing next to her. “What is-”

“You have to do something, Ms. Luthor!” Anna pleaded, looking immensely distressed. “Please! It’s an emergency!”

Lena frowned at the woman, because the last time she’d seen her everything had seemed fine. Trevor had found the gym bag in front of his door (he could probably smell it even from inside his apartment), Anna had thanked Lena for her help and said that if she thought Trevor needed an additional push in the right direction, she’d let her know. But all that happened five days ago, and even though Lena had been sceptical about the efficiency of the dead woman’s seemingly far-fetched plan at first, when after a few days she hadn’t come back to her, she just figured that Anna apparently knew Trevor a lot better than she did. Looking at the woman’s panicking expression though, Lena realised that things clearly hadn’t gone as planned.

She went to ask the woman what was wrong but caught herself at the last second, glancing back over her shoulder to where Jess was still talking to James. So just in case, she picked up her phone from the table, putting it to her ear while she sent Kara an apologetic look. The alien woman, for her part, looked slightly intrigued as she glanced between Lena and the empty space she was now talking to.

“What happened?” Lena asked concerned.

“He’s at the DMV right now. He-”

“Wait a minute,” Lena sighed, her concern quickly turning to annoyance. “I think we have a different definition of what an emergency is…”

“It _is_ an emergency!!” Anna insisted. “He got offered a job as a long-haul truck driver, and he’s going to take it!! He’s at the DMV to renew his commercial driver’s license right now!! You have to stop him!!”

“But… why?” Lena frowned in confusion. “If he needs another job why should I-”

“Because he won’t be able to wrestle anymore!!” Anna exclaimed. “He’ll have to work evenings and night shifts, and he won’t be able to take several weeks off at the time!! That’s how he was able to do those tours in Japan, and- and- please, Ms. Luthor, you have to do something!!”

“All right, all right, calm down,” Lena held out her hand, and the ghostly woman’s breaths calmed ever so slightly. “Look, quite frankly I don’t know how talking to his former boss is supposed to help him, but… I can try to talk to him if you want, just… I can’t promise it will help.”

“That’s fine,” Anna said, still in that same pleading tone. “Anything… anything at all, at this point…”

Lena nodded briefly, before putting her phone down and turning back to Kara. “I, um… have to go,” she said, hoping she sounded sufficiently apologetic.

“Ghost troubles?” Kara asked, glancing curiously at the empty space beside Lena again.

“Yeah…” Lena sighed as she got up and headed for the door, but she smiled when Kara was suddenly standing before her, holding up her jacket. “Well, aren’t you chivalrous tonight?” Lena teased as she turned around and slid her arms into the coat and Kara basically put it on her. The alien woman just chuckled behind her, and as Lena stepped out of the door and turned back around, she found Kara leaning against the door post and giving her a curious look while biting her lip.

“Are you… gonna be long?” she asked carefully.

“I’m not sure,” Lena said slowly, glancing to the side where Anna was motioning impatiently for her to come along. “If I can, I’ll make it back afterwards, alright?” Kara just nodded in response, leaning her head against the doorpost as well, while giving her an absolutely adorable look, as if she hated to see her leave. And Lena felt her heart start acting irrationally again, so in what was a true and tried tactic by now, she pulled out some humour before her affection could manifest itself in embarrassing ways. “And then you can keep telling me how beautiful I am.”

Okay, so maybe somewhere in between pushing her emotions down and dragging a joke out, the two had somehow morphed into whatever flirty-ness that was, but it was still passable as a joke, right?

But for once Lena didn’t overanalyse herself. Firstly, because she needed to leave before Anna would combust out of pure frustration, and secondly because the blush that crept up Kara’s cheeks made it totally worth it.

  

* * *

 

 

Even this close to Christmas, the DMV was still packed.

The lines looked endless as they extended in various curves and illogical turns in front of the few counters that were actually manned. Upon entering, Lena scanned the room, standing on her toes to search the entire hall with her eyes, but it proved superfluous when Anna walked straight through the crowd and started waving and gesturing at her from a specific point in the middle of one of the long lines. Lena tilted her head, looking past a tall man in the row before Anna, and finally caught sight of Trevor. Lena sighed, pausing for a moment as she tried to figure out what she was going to say. In the end she decided to wing it, because apart from offering the man his job back (which according to Anna was beside the point) she was coming up with nothing.

She slowly started making her way through the crowded room, ducking under a few belt barriers as she did so and apologising to several annoyed people waiting in line. When she arrived at the line that Trevor was waiting in, she found him with his hands deep in his pockets while looking at the floor, as Anna stood a few steps to the side, giving him a sad look. To say that he looked like shit would be a massive understatement. Lena straightened up, putting her game face on as she resolutely stepped next to the man on the other side of the belt barrier.

“Trevor.”

The man looked up, blinking in surprise, and when he caught sight of his former boss it appeared that his reaction was delayed a second, almost as if he hadn’t quite processed what he was seeing. “Ms. Luthor…” he blinked again, looking from left to right, “…what- what are you doing here?”

Lena gave him a thoughtful look, before deciding that straightforwardness was probably the best approach in this situation. “I was told I could find you here,” she stated. “Do you have a moment to talk?” She glanced at the other people in the man’s queue, who didn’t even show the slightest interest in the conversation, appearing to be almost asleep on their feet.

“Um… I guess,” he gave her a confused look. “Do you mind if we just talk here, though?” He gestured to the distance between himself and the clerk’s counter. “It took me two hours to get this far.”

“Fine,” Lena grumbled, glancing around again before stepping closer to the man, attempting to give their conversation at least a semblance of privacy. “I’m not sure whether you were aware of this or not, but L-Corp supplies extra leave days for extraordinary circumstances. I take the wellbeing of my employees very seriously, you see.”

Trevor looked at her in silence for a second. “Okay…” he drawled, clearly confused. “And you’re telling me this because…?”

“Because you should have told me that your girlfriend died.”

Trevor’s face seemed to harden, as he swallowed harshly and looked away. “Look… that’s my own business,” he said defensively. “I understand why you had to fire me, so… let’s just forget about it, okay?”

“But Trevor, I just want to-”

“It’s none of your business, Ms. Luthor,” Trevor stated more firmly, although he still didn’t make eye contact; instead staring at the floor. The silence extended as Lena tried to come up with something to further the conversation, subtly throwing a glance at Anna while trying to signal to her that she could really use some help over here. But the woman was just staring at Trevor with a very sad look on her face. While Lena was still trying to find a way to end this agonisingly long silence, Trevor’s phone suddenly ended it for her. The man flinched, before struggling to take the device out of the pocket of his jacket that was folded in his arms. When he succeeded, he didn’t actually respond, instead staring at the screen while the ringtone chimed on, giving Lena the chance to take a peek at the name on display: Will O.

“Fucking Ospreay,” Trevor scoffed, shaking his head before tapping the red button and struggling to put his phone back from where he’d taken it.

“A friend of yours?” Lena asked, grabbing at this excuse to keep their conversation going.

“No, Will is a colleague,” he said quietly, “but lately he won’t stop calling and asking when I’m coming back.”

Lena frowned at that. “Wait, so you found a new job already?” She threw another glance at the ghost of the man’s girlfriend, who was making a vague gesture while mouthing something Lena couldn’t decipher, but Trevor solved the mystery for her.

“Well, it’s not new…” Trevor muttered, causing Lena to turn her attention back to him. “I don’t think I ever told you this, but I’m a wrestler.”

“Oh,” Lena tried her best to act surprised, as Trevor actually lifted his head and looked her in the eye. “Really?” she asked in her continued attempt at appearing taken off guard by this information, while Trevor actually seemed to look less despondent than before. His eyes actually displaying something similar to pride. “Is that why you used to take several weeks off at a time?” Lena suddenly questioned.

“Yeah, usually I could work most shows in the States on the weekend, but those few weeks a year were for the big tours in Japan,” Trevor explained. “Me and Ospreay tore it up there last year,” the man actually cracked a small smile while shaking his head, and all of a sudden Anna’s insistence on what would make the man happier seemed to make a lot of sense. Because the man who had previously been standing in line as if being escorted to the gallows, was seemingly coming back to life. “Most wrestlers still need another job, though, if they want to get by. Especially if you get injured and don’t have anything else going on, you’re basically screwed. Unless you work for the WWE, of course…”

Something in that sentence jogged Lena’s memory. “Isn’t that… the biggest wrestling company around?” she asked hesitantly.

“Ms. Luthor,” the man said, suddenly displaying an excited smirk, “you secretly a wrestling fan?”

“No, um,” Lena hesitated, as the memories of a girl and her bouncing tennis ball returned vividly to her mind’s eye, “a friend of mine was.”

“Hm… hardcore fan, or one of those who thinks John Cena’s the greatest thing going?”

Lena frowned slightly at the random question, but Trevor was now smiling widely and was actually having a conversation with her, so she tried her best to search her memories. “Um…” she furrowed her brow in concentration, remembering the one day that Sam had actually talked to her about the topic, “…I believe she said; ‘The Undertaker is the greatest wrestler of all time and anyone who says otherwise has no idea what they’re talking about,’” Lena recited.

“Ha, ha,” Trevor let out an actual laugh, shaking his head in apparent delight, “I like her already!” The man scratched his neck as he kept chuckling to himself, but Lena decided that it was time to return to the heart of the problem.

“So… why did you stop?” Lena asked carefully. “Why are you ignoring your…” she gestured to the place where he had put away his phone, “…colleagues?” Trevor’s face hardened again, and Lena’s jaw tightened in frustration as she was now starting to develop an understanding for dr. Talbot’s ridiculously high bills. _Seriously, who decided that helping ghosts included being everyone’s psychologist?_

“You wouldn’t understand…” Trevor said quietly, looking back at the floor again.

“I wouldn’t understand what it’s like to lose someone?” Lena asked incredulously, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“No, I didn’t mean…” Trevor gestured vaguely through the air before letting out a long sigh. “It just seems pointless,” he muttered. “Not just wrestling, but most other things too. You know, I was set to have this try-out for the WWE later this month, and I’ve been basically been working towards it since June, but… I don’t know, I guess…” the man hesitated, seemingly searching for the right words. “I just don’t know if it is what I want anymore. As of late, I think that making dinner isn’t worth it most days, so how am I supposed to go and fight for a job that will have me on the road for 300 days a year and having about five matches a week?” He shrugged as he looked back at the youngest Luthor. “Like I said… I just don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.”

Lena cleared her throat, taking a moment to process that _(Five matches a week?!!),_ before attempting to give an adequate response. “Look, Trevor,” she started slowly, “I get it, alright?”

“All due respect, Ms. Luthor, you don’t un-”

“I do understand!” Lena protested, earning herself a surprised look from her former driver. “Do you remember when my mother attacked the city earlier this year?” she asked, as Trevor just nodded with a frown firmly on place. “Well, someone…” Lena stammered for a moment, “very dear to me… the person that matters most to me actually, actually… almost died.” Even now, Lena still shivered as she remembered that day. “I thought that-”

“Ms. Danvers almost died?!” Trevor exclaimed.

“Wha- I-” Lena’s words got stuck in her throat as she responded to the man’s surprised expression with a flabbergasted look. “I never… said…” she kept stammering while feeling her embarrassment swiftly rising.

“Well, I just assumed…” Trevor swallowed, “…you know what, never mind.” Another awkward moment of silence passed, before Lena attempted to make her point again.

“Like I was saying,” Lena stated resolutely, as she forced herself to continue, “that person almost died,” she said, her voice turning shaky again. “I didn’t think I could go on anymore. I didn’t care what would happen to L-Corp. I didn’t even care about my own wellbeing…” Lena swallowed harshly “…all I could think of, was the thought of being alone all over again.” She sighed, letting the silence in the air before giving Trevor a determined look again. “But I learned that… there is always something to fight for. That I have plenty of things worth caring about… that I’m far from alone… and that if we give up on ourselves, no one would be more hurt than the person we care about the most.” Lena tried to give the man an encouraging expression, but he appeared to have resumed his stoic staring contest with the marble floor of the DMV.

“Anna can’t get hurt anymore,” Trevor stated bitterly. And Lena was the only one who got to see the woman in question proving him wrong; the tears starting to roll silently down her cheeks while looking at the living man. “She’s dead,” he stated harshly, although he couldn’t stop his voice from shaking.

“But you’re not!” Lena hissed, causing Trevor’s head to snap up in surprise at the youngest Luthor’s sudden urgency. “That’s the point! You say that you don’t know if it’s worth it anymore, but I’ve been talking to you for less than ten minutes, I know nothing about wrestling and even I can see that you still care!” She took another moment to just stare at the man intently. “And that there’s at least _one_ person that doesn’t want you to be alone,” she said, while gesturing to the man’s phone again. “So look,” sighed as she reluctantly took a card out of her pocket and started scribbling something on the back of it, before giving it to the man. “That’s the number for a dr. Talbot,” she explained, while Trevor examined the business card he’d just been handed. “I enjoy his company about as much as I enjoy listening to nails grating a chalkboard, but I can no longer pretend he hasn’t helped me.”

Trevor seemed confused as he looked from the card in his hands to Lena for a moment. “And the one on the back?” he asked confused.

“That’s my private number,” Lena explained. “In case you want your job back, wrestle on the weekends and on your leave days again. It comes with one condition, though.” Trevor frowned as he looked up from the card. “Don’t call me without going to that try-out first,” she stated resolutely. Trevor gave her a pensive look, returning his thoughtful stare to the business card of dr. Talbot, before giving Lena a nod, albeit still with an unsure expression. And Lena really felt that that was as much as she was going to get out of him at this point. “Good luck, Trevor. With everything.”

She hitched her purse higher up her shoulder as she turned around, heading for the doors of the DMV, this time actually walking around all the lines of queuing people. Upon stepping outside she looked over her shoulder, but Anna hadn’t followed her through the doors. As Lena stepped a little further along and glanced through the large window on the front, she noticed the woman’s figure towering over most of the people waiting in line, standing shoulder to shoulder with Trevor. Just close enough that it looked as if they were touching, had that still been possible.

And as Lena would learn a few days later, everything had worked out. As Lena would find out from Anna right before the woman would start passing on in the middle of her office, Trevor hadn’t taken the trucker job and hadn’t asked Lena for his job back, but had instead gone to that try-out. Whether he’d done well or not was still a mystery, because as Anna put it: ‘How am I supposed to know? Wrestling still looks stupid to me.’

For now though, Lena still worried whether she’d done enough or not while walking through the streets of National City; the cold December temperatures numbing her fingers. She rubbed her hands together as she took a turn on her way back to Kara’s apartment before pulling out her phone, which was buzzing with an incoming call. She tapped the button to respond and put it to her ear after seeing who it was.

“Hey, Maggie,” she answered, “I was just on my way back to the party, so-”

“Yeah, don’t bother,” Maggie interrupted. “There was a Reign-related emergency so almost everyone took off. Jess was pretty confused.”

“Oh,” Lena tried her best to hide her disappointment. “So why are you calling, then?”

“Well…” the detective hesitated, “I’ve got some news… and it’s not good.”

“Okay,” Lena drawled, turning on her heels and now walking back a street in order to get to the bus stop, while frowning at the detective’s concerned tone.

“So you know all those bodies we found at the Winter Clinic?” Maggie started carefully.

“It’s hard to forget,” Lena commented dryly.

“Yeah, well… the captain actually agreed to have the DEO help us with the investigation. Well, they think it’s the FBI, but the point is that we collected DNA samples from all those bodies and ran them through the DEO’s system, hoping to identify most of the victims.”

Lena waited for Maggie to continue as she took a left turn and tucked her left hand underneath her arm to try and keep warm. But when the silence persisted, she tried to press her. “And?” she urged. The woman on the other side of the line audibly sighed, before finally continuing.

“One of them was Meryl Evans.”

Lena stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of Savio Street, the small clouds she was breathing out suddenly being the only indication that she was anything other than an unfortunately placed statue.

“Yeah,” Maggie drawled, accurately interpreting Lena’s shocked silence. “So then I thought about it, and… I kind of had a hunch about something. And so I asked Winn to run the names of Roulette’s other stalking victims through the system as well, and as it turns out… well, I was right.”

Lena stood motionless for another second or so before regaining her wits. “About what?” she asked warily. But her mind had already gotten past the shock and to be honest, as the gears started turning in her head, she was starting to suspect that she already knew what the answer would be.

“They’re all aliens,” Maggie declared, and Lena swallowed as her suspicions were confirmed. “Hilda Forsberg, Blake Vardy, Meryl Evans and Daniel Potts… apart from myself, all of Roulette’s stalking victims are aliens.”

“The kidnappings…” Lena huffed out in shock, because suddenly something fell into place. “The reason Mesut is following you…” she said slowly, “…it’s not because of the explosion. He… he started following you right after you got put in charge of the investigation into those alien kidnappings.”

“Yeah… but you know what this means, right?”

Time seemed to slow down, as suddenly the terrible puzzle appeared to come together in her mind, piece by ominous piece. All of Roulette’s known stalking victims were aliens… one of whom had disappeared… her mutilated body had been found at the Endless Winter Clinic… the Clinic that had it on record that their dead alien corpses had been sold to them by Cadmus… aliens that Cadmus had been kidnapping… one of whom was Meryl Evans… the same kidnappings whose investigation Roulette was having monitored by Mesut… Lena swallowed, because although some things still didn’t make sense, the things that _were_ clear, were leading her to a terrifying answer.

“She works for them…” Lena said incredulously. “Roulette works for Cadmus… which means…”

“Yeah,” Maggie sighed, apparently coming to the same conclusion.

 

“…someone at Cadmus can see ghosts.”

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

_The back of her head hurt like hell._

_That’s the first thing Meryl Evans noticed as she opened her eyes. She groaned, as a bright light seemed to attack her senses. She tried shaking her head and bringing her hand up to feel the sore spot that kept throbbing on her skull. She succeeded in doing neither, however. In fact she didn’t seem able to move at all. She blinked some more, trying to adjust her eyes to the bright light shining in her face. Once the world became a little clearer, once she shook off her daze and looked at where she was, Meryl started  getting scared. It was a slowly building feeling, as one by one she noticed several disturbing things._

_She was definitely not in a hospital. She was in some sort of large and empty space, the edges of which she couldn’t quite identify because of the light that was shining in her eyes from directly above. She was laying on a cool surface, elevated maybe three or four feet off the floor. And the reason she couldn’t move was because she was strapped down by her wrists, ankles, middle and even her head. Meryl started breathing heavier as she tried tugging at her restraints, but it only helped in digging the thick leather deeper into her skin._

_“Hello?” she tried weakly. “Is anyone there?” She tried moving her head, but the band across her forehead was pressing it firmly against the cool surface beneath her. She swallowed as she tried to remember how she could’ve possibly gotten here. She knows she’d just finished her evening shift at the diner. She knows that she walked home after that, feeling too tired to go to her usual bar. She remembers changing out of her uniform, and as she glanced back down at herself, she saw the shirt and jeans that she remembered throwing on. Meryl closed her eyes, forcing herself to remember. She’d opened her fridge… she’d noticed she’d have to restock it tomorrow… and then… she’d heard a noise. Yes, she remembered now. She’d heard a strange noise, she’d turned around and… then nothing. Meryl opened her eyes, realising that she remembered nothing after that._

_“Well… It would seem that my men are becoming too gentle.”_

_Meryl tensed, hearing the voice coming from somewhere above her, accompanied by the sound of approaching footsteps. She still didn’t succeed in moving her head but she didn’t need to, as a moment later someone stepped into her view. Meryl squinted her eyes at the light that was suddenly obscured by a dark silhouette above her, showing her the image of a hooded figure scanning her from top to bottom._

_“Where- where am I?” Meryl stammered unsteadily. “Who are you?” The hooded figure just chuckled in response, straightening up and starting to walk around the cool surface Meryl was strapped to._

_“It’s highly unusual for the subjects to be asking the questions,” the figure drawled slowly in an amused tone. “But since you’re awake anyway…” the hooded figure stepped out of view and Meryl once again failed to move her head enough to see what was going on. There was a soft clinking of metal against metal as the figure started talking again. “You can call me Cigarette. And you are in the latest incarnation of Cadmus’ headquarters, with the purpose to enrich mankind’s knowledge on your species.” There was silence for a moment, except for that soft metal clicking, as Meryl’s fear started increasing exponentially._

_“I- I- I don’t know what- wat you’re talking about,” she stammered, frantically trying to move her arms. “I- I’m from San Jose, I- I’m not-”_

_“Now, now, there’s no need to lie anymore,” the figure shushed, as Meryl was starting to downright panic. “Your appearance may have helped you fit in, but let’s not sit here and pretend that you’re not an alien. You are one of the very few of your species on earth, in fact the only one in National City. And the only thing we know about you, is that exposure to artificially derived Erythritol causes you to display asthmatic-like symptoms.” The hooded figure stepped back into her view, now looking directly at her and Meryl was petrified as she stared back. “That is very little knowledge, considering the vast amount of expertise the human race has managed to amass on other subjects, isn’t it?” The hooded figure paused and just stared at her for a moment. “So that is why you’re here, Ms. Evans,” the figure continued, bending down to grab something from under the surface she was lying on. “To better help us understand your species. There is one unfortunate fact you should be aware of, however.” The figure straightened back into view, appearing to hold something heavy. “Since Lillian Luthor’s demise this organisation has objectively been more effective. We’ve stopped wasting time and energy in trying to politic our way into people’s good graces. The one downside to that, is that Mrs. Luthor’s absence has left us without a significant stream of money. We’ve found ways to cover most expenses but unfortunately for you, my men appeared to have been too gentle when they knocked you out.”_

_Meryl was frozen, she couldn’t have moved even if she wanted to, as she watched the dark eyes above her with confusion. The hooded figure by the name of Cigarette seemed to notice, clarifying that last statement:_

_“We don’t waste our funds on anaesthetics.”_

_Meryl’s eyes went wide, as she whimpered at the sight of the heavy object that Cigarette brought into view. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or to cry at the absurdity of the situation, because she’d just been home earlier. She was about to have dinner. She was supposed to get groceries tomorrow. She was supposed to cover Nicole’s shift this Tuesday. She was going to ask Charlie out, she swears that she eventually was going to! But instead of laughing at how far away it all seemed, Meryl felt herself start to cry, as she just whimpered and tried to shake her head to no avail. All the while watching the hooded figure bring the circular saw to her right shoulder._

_“If it’s any consolation, there’s no one near for miles,” Cigarette said, seeming deep in concentration and unaffected by Meryl’s whimpering pleas. “So feel free to scream.”_

_Meryl tried to force at least one form of protest past her lips, but the whirring sound of the saw droned out any kind of clarity she might’ve had left. And as the blade made contact with her skin, any coherent form of thought was lost too, as she did the only thing she was still able to do being strapped to an operating table while at the mercy of the new leader of Cadmus. The one thing she kept doing, until the loss of blood finally released her to the mercy of unconsciousness first, and to the finality of death moments later._

_Meryl screamed._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have reached the mid-season finale! Which is just a fancy way of saying that I've fallen behind with writing and that I'll be back as soon as I can get a few chapters ahead again. It should only be a few weeks, hopefully.
> 
> On January 16th 2018, the WWE officially announced their signing of Trevor 'Ricochet' Mann: https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/article/ricochet-joins-wwe-performance-center
> 
> Next Chapter: Reign beats Supergirl, and Vasquez makes unfortunate assumptions.


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